O1 Jealousy
by miss37
Summary: Mac and his team are investigating a murder, but there is another situation going on that Mac does not realize. His relationship with Christine is growing and he is happy about it, but someone else is not happy about it.
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you will all let me know what you think of this new story plot. :) I hope you enjoy the first chapter. **

It just flew out of her mouth! She could not help it! It was true anyway. Why should she not say it? But right in front of his girlfriend? She had not thought before she said that and then she had thought of what she said as she stared into the eyes of Christine Whitney. Jo Danville was thinking about what she had said. She wondered what Christine had thought of her saying that she loved Mac. Yes, she loved him but she loved a lot of people and that did not mean that she wanted to have an intimate relationship with them. However, she did love Mac. He was unlike anyone she had ever met. She remembered that look in Christine's eyes that said "I love him too". Jo knew Christine was in love with Mac and she thought maybe he was in love with her too. She supposed she ought to be glad that he was finding a love interest but it made her jealous…and she did not even know why. She had no right to be jealous because she had kept Mac as far as she could while trying to pretend that she wanted a close "friendship" with him.

Jo sat in her office. She could see Mac in his office from where she was. She wondered what he really thought of Christine. She knew that Christine had started this relationship but she also knew that Mac had been happy lately and she thought he was really interested in Christine. But she could not be sure. She was not sure how he felt about her either. He never let anyone know his personal feelings. How could anyone know how he felt?

Mac was sitting in his office. He was looking at an e-mail from Christine. He smiled as he read it. She wanted him to come to dinner that night. They had not been able to have much fun the last few months because he had been recovering from being shot in the back. Christine had been at his side though. He scowled as he thought of the problems he had been having with his memory. He could read something on a report and he had to look at it again before he could really comprehend what he had read. He had never had that problem before. The doctor had told him he might have some memory problems because of his blood loss. Blood loss to the brain caused brain cells to change and caused them to die if it was long enough. He was not sure how long he had flatlined, but he knew that more than ten seconds could cause irreversible brain damage. It could also cause other problems as well and he had experienced some of them. It had taken him a while to be able to walk again and his right hand was still a little tingly. Then again, that was nothing new. It had always had a little loss of feeling since he had been injured in that war. A nerve in his hand had been injured and it had resulted in a permanent slight loss of feeling although it was not complete. After this incident, it was a little worse and even his foot felt like that a little now.

Jo walked down the hall toward Mac's office and saw him looking at his hand as he was sitting at his desk. He was flexing that hand and she wondered why. She had noticed him staring at reports a long time. She wondered if he was having problems that he was not letting anyone know about. She was sure he would not let anyone know about it if he was having problems with anything.

Jo walked up to Mac's office door and he looked up at her. "You want to go out to lunch?" she asked.

"I'm meeting Christine for lunch," Mac said.

"Oh. Maybe tomorrow?" Jo felt that jealousy she was trying to suppress but it was not easy to stop it.

"Maybe. I guess it's according to what's going on."

Jo supposed she could not have lunch with him unless they were working on a case. She supposed that was the way it worked when someone was dating. "Well, I guess we can talk about it then."

Mac watched Jo walk away from the office. He went back to his e-mail to Christine. They were planning to meet for lunch at the deli and they were going to have dinner tonight. He leaned on his desk and thought about that as he sent the email. Christine understood his job and did not question him when he told her he could not do something because he was working. He knew she was disappointed but she did not let it show much. There were a lot of things that he liked about Christine. She was pretty of course and she understood his job, she had a good sense of humor, she liked his friends and did not act like she was neglected. She had even wanted to make a good impression on his goddaughter, Lucy. Not to mention, he liked having someone to hold and kiss. Mac smiled at that thought. He had to admit it was good to have someone around again. She made him feel good about himself, about her and about their relationship.

Mac leaned back in his chair and thought about the future. He wondered where their relationship would end up. He did not want it to be frivolous; he wanted it to be sincere and special. He thought Christine wanted the same thing he wanted…to be happy. He wanted to get married again eventually and he hoped that Christine would want to do that too. He had not discussed that with her, of course. The very thought of discussing that made him nervous.

Mac almost jumped when his phone rang. He looked at the phone and found that it was a text message. He got up and got his forensics kit and headed for the elevator. Jo fell into step beside him. "I guess we're off to another crime scene," she said.

"Looks like it," Mac replied.

They went down to the Avalanche and headed for the crime scene which was in a nail/beauty salon and tattoo/piercing parlor over in Brooklyn. Mac could not help but notice the smell when he walked in…the smell of ether and other chemicals that went along with nail polish and other stuff that was used in nail salons, not to mention the smell of green soap that was mixed in with that. Mac rubbed his nose as he was bombarded by the odors. The shop was divided with a door that led to the other side and a large picture window where one could see to the other side. It was well lit in the beauty/nail salon, but over in the tattoo/piercing parlor, it was darker.

Mac could hear that sound of the tattoo artist's needle in the other room but there was nothing going on in the beauty salon. Don Flack was there. He walked over to Mac. "I hate this smell," he said.

"What do we have, Don?" Mac asked.

Don rubbed his nose and looked at his notepad. "Michelle Kravets, twenty-three, New York driver's license. She owns this salon along with her brother there, Butch Freeman."

"She married?"

"Divorced."

Mac wrote all that down in his notepad. "Who found the body?" he asked.

Don pointed across the salon. "Victoria Cory, one of the women who work here. She came in this morning to open up the shop, which she says, Michelle usually beat her here. She turned the lights on and went to the back room there and found Michelle there. The other women who work here are Amy March, Karen Sims and Linda Nealsen. The other tattoo artist over there is Andrew Lavitz."

Mac looked toward the tattoo shop where he saw a man standing in the doorway. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He walked over to Mac. "Are you going to find out who killed my sister?" he asked.

Mac looked at the man, who had several piercings in his ears and nose and lip, not to mention his eyebrows. "You're Butch Freeman?" Mac asked looking at his notepad.

"Yeah. That's my sister in there."

"Well, we're going to do everything we can to find out who killed her."

Mac and Jo walked away from Butch and followed Don to the crime scene which was a bathroom with a shower and a Jacuzzi tub. The victim was lying in the tub but there was no water in the tub. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a lace blue top and cutoff blue jean shorts. She had a lip ring as well. Mac took pictures of the scene and of the victim while Jo made a sketch. Then they squatted beside the body.

Mac looked at the victim's hands. "No signs of a struggle," he said. "Maybe she knew her attacker."

"Maybe," Jo agreed. "No engagement ring or anything like that."

"She's divorced." Mac turned the victim on her side. "Lividity in the back, so she died right here."

"Looks like she was just shot right through the heart and fell into this tub."

Mac looked at the wound on the victim. "Definitely just one shot."

Jo looked at the victim's head. "Looks like trauma to the back of her head. She could have gotten that when she fell."

Mac searched the victim's pockets but there was nothing in them. He let Jo finish that and he changed gloves to inspect the shop. Just then, Danny walked in. "Dust for prints," Mac said.

"I'm on it," Danny replied.

Mac checked the register but it was not open. He called Victoria over to him. "Open this," he said.

Victoria opened the register, but there was no money in it. Mac looked at her. "Maybe it was robbery," he said.

"The register is always empty in the mornings," Victoria said. "Michelle always put all the money in the safe at night and added a certain amount to the register every morning."

Mac wrote that down. "Where is the safe?" he asked.

"It's in the back room."

"Show me."

Victoria led Mac into the back room which was an office with a desk and a filing cabinet, but there was a small safe sitting in the corner of the room. There was also a table in the room with wigs sitting on it of all different colors. "Can you open that safe?" Mac asked.

Victoria nodded. "Who all knows the combination?" Mac asked.

"Just me and Michelle, and Butch."

Mac wrote that down and waited for Victoria to open the safe. She took the bank bag from the safe and opened it. "It looks like all the money is there," she said.

Mac took pictures of everything in the office which had no signs that anyone had struggled in there. "Had she had any arguments with anyone lately?" he asked.

"She was always arguing with that ex-husband of hers but she had an argument with Butch one day," Victoria answered.

"What was that argument about?"

"I couldn't hear it. There's always so much noise in here, you can't hear much."

"Then how do you know they were arguing?"

"Well, I could tell by the tone of their voices and when Michelle came out, she was smiling like she had won the argument and when Butch came out, he was angry. He went back over to the tattoo area and he didn't come back in here the rest of the day."

"When was this?"

"It was Monday, I think."

Mac wrote that down. "What did she argue with her ex-husband about?" he asked.

Victoria sniffed at that. "Everything," she said. "I think he was still in love with her but she did not want anything to do with him anymore. I don't know why. He was a nice guy, I thought, and he was handsome too."

"I guess you don't really know a person until you live with them."

"Oh, I don't think that was it. Michelle wanted to be free to do what she wanted, if you know what I mean. She liked sex and she wanted to spread it around."

"So, you think she had a lot of angry people around her?"

"I don't know about that. When we get out of this shop at night, I don't see her until we come back the next morning. I have two kids and I don't get involved with that sort of trash. She came onto everybody in this shop. She liked having threesomes."

"And you didn't ever have one with her?"

"Absolutely not. I have a husband and he is all I need."

"What about the other women in there?"

"You'll have to ask them. Like I said, I only work here."

"Thanks."

Mac went back into the other room and talked to the other two women but they did not know anything about what had happened to Michelle. He wanted to talk to that ex-husband and find out where he was when the victim was killed. He would have to wait for Sid to determine the approximate time of death.

It took them two hours to get everything collected at the scene. Jo saw Mac smiling as he got a text from Christine. She tried not to feel jealous, but she could not stop it. He never smiled like that except when he was talking to Christine or when he was with her. Jo wanted him to smile at her like that. She rolled her eyes at herself. What kind of friend was she? She should be happy for Mac because he was happy, but she wanted him to be happy with her.

Mac put his phone away and walked over to Jo. "Well, I guess that is everything," he said. "We have to get this situation out of the way so these people can go on with their business."

"They should be worried about what happened to their boss," Jo replied.

"Life goes on though."

Jo watched Mac walk away. She figured he knew a lot about life going on after a tragedy. He had been through plenty of them. She knew he was right…no matter what happened, a person had to keep going with life because they were still here and had to go on living. She remembered when her father died. She had wondered then how she could go on living, but she had realized that she would have to and that he would want her to.

Jo followed Mac out to the Avalanche and Danny put his kit in. "I got quite a few fingerprints," Danny said.

"No telling how many people go in there in a day," Mac said. "We need to stick to the fingerprints that you found in the room where she was murdered."

"There were a lot less in there. I suppose that is because it is cleaned quite often."

"Every day," Jo declared. "They have to clean it every day."

"That would be our best bet then," Mac said. "Maybe we can get some fingerprints from our perp and get this case out of the way quickly."

Jo figured she knew why he wanted the case over quickly. He wanted to spend time with Christine. She folded her arms. She did not have anyone to spend time with except her kids. She loved them but she wanted some other kind of relationship. She needed companionship too.

Mac yawned. "I didn't get much sleep last night," he said.

"Neither did I," Danny replied. "I don't know…I just couldn't sleep. I think I kept Lindsey up half the night too. I had to get up and go get on the sofa."

"I did the same thing but I just laid there staring at the TV and couldn't even fall asleep even though I was so sleepy I couldn't stand it."

"Must be the weather. This weather is so humid, it even feels humid in the apartment."

Mac nodded. "Sure does. It may be the weather."

Jo was wondering if Christine had been there with Mac. Why did he get up and move to the sofa? Was he sleeping with her now? She could not believe it. How could he be in love with her already and think that he should have her in his bed already?

Mac looked at Jo. "What about you?" he asked.

Jo realized he was looking at her. "Me?"

"Yeah. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

"No. I slept like a log."

"Well, that's one of us."

Jo would not let him know that she woke up several times during the night. It was none of his business anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Mac, Jo and Danny arrived back at the lab where they turned in their evidence. Mac went to his office and started his report. He wanted to get it done while it was fresh in his memory and he had to wait for evidence to be processed as well. He hoped there would be a time soon when they could get things done quicker. It took time to process evidence but that was just how it was and one had to have patience for this sort of thing. He had seen plenty of impatient people in his line of work.

Mac began his report. He had to write it and type it too. He thought of what he wanted to write and just as he was about to type, his phone rang. He took it off his side and looked at it. Christine was calling. "Hello," Mac said trying to use his sexiest voice…or at least, that is what she had told him.

"Hi," Christine said. "Are we still on for lunch or are you going to be busy?"

Mac looked at his watch. It was almost 11:00 now. "I think we'll have time," he said. "I'll meet you at the deli."

"Sure."

"I'm just about hungry anyway."

"You ate breakfast, didn't you? You know how important it is to keep up your nutrition."

Mac nodded. "Yes, I know, you've told me. I'm trying to do better."

"Coffee is not breakfast. You have to eat food too."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Christine laughed. "Don't sass me. You have to take care of yourself."

"I promise, I'll do better."

"I'll see you at the deli then."

"Until then."

Mac ended the call. He smiled and leaned back in his chair. He supposed that's what he got for dating a woman who owned a restaurant. She wanted to make sure he ate properly. He knew she was right though. He did not know how he had kept going all that time. He had seen many days where he had barely taken time to eat a bite much less sit down and eat a meal. It was not good for a person to do that. He thought about it now and wondered how he had been able to think. He had been depriving his body of what it needed and he had barely realized it.

Mac sat up and looked at his report. He had to get his mind on work right now. He thought about what he wanted to write again and began his report. He frowned as he thought of how he had to think harder to remember everything. He remembered some reports he had done since being shot and he had to go back and add things because he had forgotten those details when he was writing it the first time. That worked on a computer but when one was writing on a limited space on a report form, they had to redo the whole thing to add more to it. He decided maybe he should start typing it first and then write the whole thing after he got it all finished in the computer.

Mac frowned. If he could not do his job right, maybe he should retire. Maybe he was getting old and could not do this job anymore. He supposed everyone had to realize when it was time to retire because they were not performing at peak efficiency anymore. What would Christine think about that if he retired? Maybe he could help her at the restaurant. That would definitely give them more time to spend together. Too much time? He did not know.

When Mac finished typing his report, he went into the lab to see what Danny had found with the fingerprints. "Well, there were multiple doners in the shop itself, but in the back room, the only prints belonged to the victim and her brother," Danny said.

"Her brother," Mac said thoughtfully. He wrote that down in his notepad. "I guess we will have to pay him a visit after we pay her ex-husband a visit and find out where he was during all this time."

"Where you headed now?"

"Down to the morgue to see what Sid found."

"I'll go with you."

Mac and Danny went down to the morgue. Sid was still working on the victim. He was searching for the bullet. Mac walked over to the table and looked over Sid's shoulder. "Interesting," Mac said.

Sid jumped as he did not know Mac was beside him. "Do you have to do that?" he asked.

Mac smiled. "Yeah. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find the bullet."

"Trying?"

"Yes. It's not in the heart although it traveled through there. It is either lodged somewhere else or it went all the way through, but there is no exit wound so therefore, I assume the bullet is lodged somewhere in this victim's body." Sid looked at Mac. "I think this victim was shot at pretty close range. There was a lot of tattooing around the wound and GSR on the clothing and look at this…"

Mac looked through the magnifying glass. "It went right through the vertebra," he said and looked at Sid. "So where is it?"

Sid looked into the body again. "I think that it went down the spinal canal before it lost momentum."

Mac scowled. "It went through the vertebra and traveled down the spinal canal?"

"That's what I think. I don't think it would go up because of gravity so I am trying to locate it lower."

Sid looked at the x-ray as he moved the picture further down the victim's body. Finally they saw the bullet in the lower spine. "There it is," he said.

"Incredible," Mac said as he leaned to look closer. "You ever seen anything like that?"

Sid looked over his glasses at Mac. "You're asking me?" he asked.

Mac looked at him. "Never mind."

Mac watched as Sid prepared to remove the bullet, which was in fragments now. Mac shook his head. "It's going to be difficult to get a match," he said.

Sid extracted the bullet fragments and put them in a dish for Mac. "There you go," he said. "That seems to be all of it."

"Thanks, Sid. You got anything else?"

"No signs of sexual activity, no bruising. Other than the bullet, she had no injuries."

Mac and Danny went to the elevator. "I thought that other woman said this woman loved sex," Danny remarked. "Yet, there was no evidence of sexual activity?"

Mac looked at Danny. "Just because someone enjoys sex doesn't mean they have it all the time, I don't guess," he said.

"You're probably right. I guess everybody has to rest sometimes."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Let's go and visit this ex-husband and see how much he liked his wife's habits," he said. He looked at his watch. "After lunch." He looked at Danny. "I'll see you later."

Mac went down and got a cab to the deli where he met Christine at the door. He smiled. "I made it," he said.

"So you did," Christine replied. She put her arm around him and leaned on his shoulder. "I'm glad you did."

"Me too."

They ordered something and went to a table. "You're working on a new case?" Christine asked.

"Yes, I am," Mac replied. "But you know I can't discuss that."

Christine leaned on the table. "You think you're going to make it to dinner tonight? I have something special planned."

Mac smiled. "I'm going to do my best," he said. "You know I want to be there."

"A few years ago, I would never have thought we would be here like this."

"Neither would I."

"You had probably forgotten about me, but I sure didn't forget you. You were in the paper a lot and when I saw your profile I just had to send you a message."

"I was surprised when I got your message. I started a message and then I thought I didn't want to go through anymore heartbreak."

"I don't intend to break your heart, Mac Taylor."

"I don't intend to break yours either."

"I always thought you were such a handsome man. All those times I gave Stan the food, I was hoping you would like it. I knew he would share."

Mac considered that. He would never have thought of that back then because he was married and loved Claire. That made him a little uncomfortable now for her to say that. Would she have tried to take him from his wife? He looked at her. "How did you know me?" he asked. "I didn't see you very much except when Stan brought you along when we all went out."

"He was always talking about you because you were his partner and meeting you in person just those times was enough to know you were an extraordinary man."

"But you knew I was married."

"Of course."

Mac scowled at that. "Why didn't you ever marry?" he asked.

Christine thought Mac must think she intended to take him from Claire or that she thought they would not stay together. Maybe she did, but that was in the past. "When I heard that your wife died, I couldn't think of anyone else that I would rather wait on," she said. "I wanted to come to you and try to comfort you but I was afraid it would be too hard on you and I had no idea what to say."

"I wouldn't have known what to say either." Mac thought of how he had felt during that time. He certainly was not thinking of looking for a companion or wife. He thought his life was over at the time and he would never have thought he could love again, and he had not so far…except once, and look how that turned out.

"Well, now that we got that conversation out of the way, let's talk about tonight," Christine said, wanting to change the subject.

Mac smiled at her. "And just what have you got planned?" he asked.

"You'll have to wait and see, but I want you at my place by eight."

"I'll do my best."

"We're going to have an intimate dinner and candlelight and…" Christine smiled. "And something else."

Mac looked at her. "Am I going to like this surprise?" he asked.

"Of course."

Christine moved around beside Mac. "Are you still having problems with your memory?" she asked.

Mac's smile faded slightly. "Sometimes," he said. "I try to hurry and write my reports so I won't forget anything."

"You know the doctor said this could be only temporary. I can tell you're worried about it."

Mac nodded. "Yes, I am," he said. "I have to be able to rely on my memory and if I question it myself, what am I going to do if anyone ever questions my memory in court?"

Christine held Mac's hand. "Don't question yourself," she said. "You can't do that. You have to have confidence in yourself."

"But I know that I have this problem but I have to do my job. I can't just pretend that I'm not having the problem."

Christine did not know what to say to that. "I know you're doing your best," she said.

Mac looked into her eyes and knew that she meant it. "I just wonder sometimes if my best is still good enough," he said.

"Mac, don't second guess yourself."

"I do every day. I can't help it."

"I hope you don't let anyone else know about it."

"I've been thinking that maybe I should. They should know that I have a problem so they can…"

"So they can what? Watch over your shoulder?"

"Something like that, I guess."

When they were done eating, Mac went back to the lab where Danny was already waiting for him. "Let's go," Mac said. "We owe this ex-husband a visit."

"I'm ready," Danny replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Mac let Danny drive the Avalanche to Brayden Kravets' apartment. Mac stared out the window thinking. He was not very comfortable with that conversation that he had with Christine. He remembered how Quinn had thought she could take him from his wife. Was that what Christine had thought? That made him wonder about their relationship. He did not like that she would think that she could take him from his wife no more than he had liked the fact that Quinn had thought it. He shook his head; he had to remember that was in the past. She had never done anything to him or tried to do anything. He was jumping to conclusions with no facts. Just because she had liked him then did not mean anything now. He had been older than her and maybe she was just a little infatuated. He supposed that happened to a lot of people. He had to admit it had even happened to him before.

"You sure are deep in thought," Danny said. "Must have been quite a kiss."

Mac looked at him. "What?" he asked.

Danny snickered. "I said…"

"I heard what you said. That is not what I'm thinking about. What's wrong with thinking?"

"Nothing. I wish I had thought some things over in the past before I just jumped for it."

"Like what?"

"I'm not talking about Lindsey. I'm talking about some other stupid things I did. Lindsey was the best decision I ever made."

"Let me ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"What if you had been married when you met Lindsey?"

Danny scowled. "I never thought of marriage until I met her," he said.

Mac looked at him. "Can't you theorize?"

"I don't know. I guess I wouldn't have given her a second look."

"But what if your wife died later on and then you found out that Lindsey had a crush on you the whole time?"

Danny absorbed that a moment. "Well, if my wife was dead, I guess it wouldn't matter, would it?"

Mac leaned on his hand. "I guess not." He thought he was making something out of nothing. Maybe he was looking for an excuse to be distant. He always did look for excuses when it came to things like this.

Danny looked at Mac. "Are you and Christine having problems?" he asked.

Mac started to say that was none of his business but he had opened this can of worms. "No, we're not having problems," he said. "I guess I'm just…nervous."

"She's a pretty woman. She seems nice."

"She is and we were kinda acquainted before."

"She seems to accept your life the way it is. That's saying a lot."

Mac had to agree with that. He thought maybe that was what made him nervous. She fit in. He could not deny that she could be perfect to fit in with his life. She did not judge him by his job or anything like that. He still had apprehensions that he had to get past.

They arrived at the apartment building where Brayden Kravets lived and went inside. The elevator was out of order, so they had to climb stairs. "I'm glad he doesn't live on the top floor," Danny remarked as he and Mac were going up the stairwell.

"Well, he still lives on the tenth," Mac pointed out. "That's enough."

"I hope he doesn't run when we get there."

"Why would he run?"

"I don't know. Some people see a cop coming, they just instinctively run."

"That's the wrong thing to do."

"I know but they don't seem to know it. It only causes them more trouble, and if they're innocent of what we suspect them of, they get in trouble anyway for running."

"Let's just get up there and see if this guy is home. If he's not, we'll go to his work place."

"I hope it's not another tattoo parlor."

"Not quite."

"Not quite? What is it then?"

"A massage parlor."

Danny shook his head. "This is quite a family here," he said.

They finally came out on the tenth floor and headed down to Kravets' apartment. They stopped outside the door and Danny looked at Mac. "Maybe we should stand to the side," he said.

Mac scowled. "Why?" he asked as he knocked.

"Well, since that time Flack and I were at that apartment and that guy shot through the door, I kinda don't like standing in front of a door."

Mac moved to the side of the door and knocked again. "He might not even be here," he said.

"Yeah, and he could be in there…"

Just then, they heard the lock on the door. The door opened and there was a young man there who had brown hair and blue eyes and he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He was dressed in pajama pants. "What do you want?" he asked.

Mac showed him his badge. "I am Detective Mac Taylor. Are you Brayden Kravets?"

"I am. What is this about?"

"Can we come in?"

"Not until you tell me what this is about?"

"We're sorry to tell you this, but your ex-wife was found murdered this morning," Mac said.

Kravets stared at them a moment in shock. "What?"

"Can we come in? We'll explain it to you."

Kravets opened the door and let them in. The living room definitely looked like a bachelor's pad to Mac. There were clothes all over the living room and even pizza boxes. Kravets grabbed the clothes off the couch and threw them in a hamper. "You guys can sit down," he said.

"We can stand," Mac said. "We need to talk to you about your ex-wife."

Kravets folded his arms and frowned. "Well, we were divorced," he said. "I don't know what I can tell you. I don't know what she did anymore."

"We were told that you two argued a lot."

Kravets nodded. "We did when we ever talked. That was why we divorced. We did nothing but argue."

"What did you argue about?"

Kravets looked at Mac. "Sex. She wanted to have threesomes all the time and she wanted to have an 'open' marriage. I don't want to share my wife with other people."

Mac stared at him a moment. He had to agree with that. "I don't blame you," he said. He looked at the report that Sid had given him. "Where were you around seven this morning?"

"I was just getting off work at eight," Kravets said.

Mac and Danny looked at each other. "You got off at eight?" Mac asked.

"Yes. You can ask my boss."

"And you work at a massage parlor?"

"Yes, the Sensational Hands Salon."

Danny tried not to smile at that title. "Sounds interesting," he said.

Mac glanced at him and then said, "Has she mentioned anyone she was having a fight with or anything?" he asked. "Anyone threatening her?"

"That nasty brother of hers," Kravets said. "But then again, it was her fault that he was so angry at her."

"How's that?"

"Every time he got a new girlfriend, she would talk her into having a threesome with her and some guy."

"Her brother's girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Wouldn't that make you angry? Maybe he killed her."

"Do you think he would?"

Kravets shook his head. "I don't know. He's a pretty mean guy and they had a pretty bad argument about all that not long ago. I walked in on it."

"Did you hear anything they were saying?" Danny asked.

"They were arguing about that, and they were arguing about the business. He said something about the business was half his and that was when I walked in and asked what was going on. He stormed out of the room and I asked her but she looked like she thought she was triumphant." Kravets shook his head. "She liked to get the better of people."

Mac wrote that in his notepad. "Was there anyone else she was 'getting the better of'?" he asked.

"I don't know. I work and I don't have time to think about what she's doing all the time."

Danny folded his arms. "You work at a massage parlor at night?" he asked.

"Yeah. Some people work at night and when they're off, they want a massage. We have customers who come in all hours."

Danny looked at Mac. "Hey, that might be an option for even us," he said.

Mac did not care to discuss that at the moment. "If you think of anything, can you give me a call?" he asked and gave Kravets his card.

"I don't think I will think of anything else that will help you," Kravets said. "But I will keep it in mind."

"Thanks."

Mac and Danny left the apartment. "Well, that was quite a conversation," Danny said. "Do you believe him?"

"We'll check out his alibi," Mac said. "But I do believe that he heard the argument. We have to pay the brother a visit."

"You think he's still at the tattoo parlor?"

"Maybe. He didn't seem to be all broken up over his sister's death this morning."

They went out to the Avalanche and went down to the tattoo parlor. Mac almost cringed at the sound of that needle. He had never gotten a tattoo. He did not like them even though he had been in the Marines. He had loved his brothers in arms but tattooing was one thing that he drew the line at. It was permanent and if one decided they did not like it, it was there.

Mac and Danny walked over to Andrew Lavitz since they did not see Butch in the place. Mac showed the man his badge. "Where is Butch?" Mac asked.

"He went out for a while," Andrew replied. He had long blond hair that he had pulled back in a pony tail and a thin mustache. "He should be back in a while."

"You ever heard Butch and his sister arguing?" Danny asked.

"Of course. They argued every time they saw each other."

"What about?"

"Well, they mostly argued about her sexual habits but they argued about the shop too."

"What about the shop?" Mac asked. "Something wrong here?"

"Well, it just takes a lot to run a place like this and Michelle wanted to spend more than she should and kept the shop from making a lot of profit like Butch wanted it to. You know, there are bills and people to pay. She definitely took her share."

"More than her share?"

"You might say that, but I think the thing Butch hated the most was that she was always hanging around his girlfriends and mostly taking them over."

Mac almost rolled his eyes. "Well, they weren't unwilling participants, were they?" he asked.

Andrew looked at Mac. "No."

"Then I don't suppose she took them over then."

"Yeah, well, that was how Butch saw it."

"Did you hear their last argument?"

"Everybody heard that argument. I told Butch he was going to run the customers off if he didn't stop that yelling like that. He tried to get along with her, he really did."

"Do you think he would kill her?" Danny asked bluntly.

Andrew looked surprised. "His own sister? I hope not."

"But you don't know for certain?"

"Who can know anything for certain these days? I know she was a pest, but she was still his sister."

"So you think they loved each other deep down?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Anyone else she has not gotten along with? Maybe the women she worked with over there?"

"No. I never heard any of them arguing."

"Thanks."

Mac and Danny went back out to the Avalanche. "Well, I guess it's either the ex or the brother," Danny said. "Which do you think?"

Mac thought about that a moment. "I don't know. The brother seems to have a lot of reasons not to get along with his sister."

"What would you think about that?" Danny asked.

"About what?"

"If your sister did something like that to you?"

Mac shook his head. "My sister would not do anything like that."

"But I'm just asking."

"I suppose I would probably never speak to her again."

"That's what I was thinking, but what if you 'had' to talk to her like Butch?"

Mac considered that. "I suppose I would get angrier and angrier and I would probably eventually sell my portion of the shop and open up my own."

"But what if you couldn't?"

"I don't know, Danny. I'm not the subject here. We have to figure out if her brother killed her or if her ex killed her. If Brayden's alibi checks out, we're going to be looking at her brother even more."


	4. Chapter 4

Mac called the massage parlor and found that Brayden Kravets had been working at the massage parlor at the time of the murder. He even had a client at that time. Mac dropped his folder on the desk and leaned back in his chair. He wondered if Butch Freeman would kill his own sister. He did not know the man but he would be there to talk to him when he got off work so he would not have any customers in there to distract him. It was hard to question someone in a busy work setting.

Jo was pacing around in her office. She did not like being jealous of Mac but she could not help herself. What could she do about it? She had realized that she did not know much about Mac when he was in the hospital. She had learned his middle name at the time. She could not believe it. Maybe that was a conversation she could start with him now. She looked in her mirror to make sure she looked presentable and then headed for Mac's office. She could see him sitting there before she got to the office. He was rubbing his eyes and looking like he was tired.

Mac yawned and rubbed his face. He hoped he would be able to stay awake for Christine tonight. He thought having no sleep last night was about to catch up with him. He looked up to see Jo coming to his office. He waved her in before she knocked. "I hope you've got some information," he said.

"Not a thing yet," she said. "Lindsey and I searched the victim's apartment. The bed lit up like a Christmas tree and she had two laptops but there was nothing really interesting except she had a bill where she had ordered a tanning booth for the beauty salon."

"A tanning booth?" Mac considered that. "Maybe that was one of the things that Butch was so upset about."

Jo sat down on the couch. "Adam is searching the computer but I don't really think he's going to find anything."

"You never know." Mac looked at Jo as he realized she was getting comfortable. "Something on your mind?"

"Yes." Jo leaned back on the sofa. "I realized when you were in the hospital that I don't know that much about you. I didn't even know your middle name."

Mac scowled at that. "And you do now?" he asked.

Jo smiled. "Yes, Christine informed me of that."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Don't spread that around this lab."

"I'm just curious why that is your middle name."

Mac sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I don't think my mother thought of how embarrassing that would be when she gave me that name. My first name is after my father and the middle name is after her."

"Just be glad it wasn't the other way around."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Don't even joke about that."

Jo almost laughed. "Something you're self-conscious about."

"You don't have any idea how that name has caused me trouble in my life."

"Tell me!"

"I will not."

"Oh, come on, Mac."

"It's about as bad as that poor guy who's name was William Knott, and then his nickname in school became Will Knott, and then by the time he got to the service, it was Won't."

Jo laughed at that. "Ha, ha, ha, ha," Mac said sarcastically. "You can laugh because it wasn't you."

Mac looked at his watch. "It's time to go and interview Michelle Kravets' brother," he said. "He seems to have a lot of anger."

Mac stood up and walked around the deck. Jo stood up from the couch so that she was right in front of him. "He should be getting off work in a little while," Mac said not taking any notice to her close proximity.

Jo rolled her eyes as Mac walked past her. He did not even pay any attention to the fact that she was almost right up against him. She followed him from the office and they went to the elevator. Mac pressed the down button and looked at his watch again. Jo wondered why he kept looking at his watch when he had just looked at it a few minutes ago and was aware of what time it was. "You keeping track of the time?" Jo asked.

Mac looked at her. "Well, I'm supposed to have a date with Christine tonight and I don't want to be late if I can help it," he said.

The elevator opened and they stepped in. "Mac Llewellyn Taylor," Jo said as they were standing in the elevator alone.

Mac looked at her. "Josephine Josephson," he said.

Jo folded her arms and looked at him. "That is not my name," she said a little testy.

"Well, don't tease me then."

Jo thought this was not going like she wanted it to. "I suppose everyone has something about themselves that they hate," she declared.

"I suppose," Mac agreed. He did not like being teased about that name. He had enough of that in his past. He had been called Lulu in the service after they found it out. He was glad he had not brought that name to the police force with him. He was able to keep his middle name out of it. Everyone knew it was an "L" but they did not know what it stood for.

They went out to the Avalanche. "Why do you always jump in the driver's seat?" Jo asked. "Does the man always have to drive?"

Mac scowled at her. "Do you want to drive?" he asked.

Jo stared at him a moment. "No."

"Then, what's the problem?"

Mac cranked the truck and headed for the tattoo parlor. He did not like arguing over stupid things like who's driving and names. "The ex's alibi checked out," he said. "He was working at the time of the murder."

"So that leaves the brother," Jo replied. She thought she might as well be all business right now.

"Yeah, and I don't really have any other suspects at the moment."

"What about those women who worked with her?"

"They don't seem to have a motive."

"What about the one who says she doesn't know anything about the woman after she leaves that shop?"

"What about her? She has a family. Would she jeopardize that to kill this woman?"

"Maybe it was done in the heat of the moment."

"I don't know. There was no fight. Things done in the heat of the moment are usually violent."

"Maybe she had the gun in her purse."

"Could be but we don't even have an identifiable bullet. We know it was a thirty-eight but we did not find any weapons in the shop. If her brother killed her, would he have time to get the weapon out of there and get rid of it before she was found?"

"If she was killed around seven and the next person came in at eight, that would give him some time."

"We have to find out what time he came in this morning."

They arrived at the tattoo parlor, which was as dark as usual. "You know, if someone was going to use a needle on me, I think I would want them to have more light that this so they could see exactly what they're doing," Jo said.

"It would seem to be a good idea," Mac replied.

"So, do you have one?"

"Have a what?"

"A tattoo?"

"No, I don't."

Jo waited for Mac to ask if she had one but he went on into the shop. She followed him in and they walked over to Butch who was putting away his equipment and cleaning his instruments. "Butch Freeman," Mac said.

"We're closed," Butch said.

Mac showed him his badge. "We met this morning. We need to ask you some questions."

"You found out who killed my sister yet?"

"No. We need to know what you two were arguing about Monday. I was told that you two had a pretty heated argument about her sexual habits and the way she was running this shop."

Butch slammed his hand down on the counter he was standing at. Mac stared at him a moment. "She was ruining everything," he said. "She did not know the first thing about running a business. She thought if she got a little money, she should add more stuff to that shop over there and we had to pay bills, the rent for this space."

"And that made you angry?" Mac asked.

Butch glared at him. "Yeah, it made me angry! And yeah, I was angry about how she conducted herself with my girlfriends! What kind of sister does that?"

"Where were you this morning around seven?"

"I was at the gym working out."

"Anyone can verify that?"

"Sure. Martina can. She was there with me."

"And who is Martina?"

"She works at the gym. She likes to watch me work out."

Mac wrote that down. "You always go to the gym that early in the morning?"

"Sure. I work all day and I like to keep in shape."

"What time did you arrive at the gym?"

"Around seven or maybe a little after. The time is logged in because we have to sign in. I left at about seven-forty-five."

Mac wrote all that down. "Is it hand written when you sign in or is it an electronic sign-in?" he asked.

Butch stared at him a moment. "Hand written."

"Then, you could have written any time down there."

"I guess I could but why would I? Are you accusing me of killing my sister?"

"I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just trying to get at the facts."

"It looks like you would want to help us find out who killed your sister," Jo said.

"I don't know anything about it," Butch replied. "My sister and I didn't get along, and am I glad she's dead…no, but I'm not sad either. Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out."

Mac frowned. "We'll talk again," he informed him.

"Looking forward to it."

"Do you own a gun?"

"Of course." Butch pulled a weapon from under his counter.

Mac put his hand on his weapon. "Lay that down," he said.

Butch laid the gun on the counter. "You asked."

"You keep this here all the time?" Jo asked as she put on a glove and picked up the gun.

"Yes, I do. I keep a lot of cash in here."

"And you have this for protection?" Mac asked.

"Yeah."

Mac looked at the weapon which was clearly a forty-five. He looked at Butch. "Next time an officer asks you about a weapon, I would be careful pulling it out like that," he said. "You could find yourself in the hospital or worse."

"Is that a threat?" Butch asked.

"No, it's a cautionary statement."

Butch stared into Mac's green eyes and he saw no fear at all. "Sorry," he said.

Jo gave him the weapon back. "And another thing," she said. "The next time an officer talks to you, I would let them know I have that back there just as a caution."

Mac and Jo walked out of the shop. "That guy's a piece of work," Jo said as they were getting into the Avalanche.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make him a murderer," Mac replied. "That weapon was not even the right caliber."

"You think he killed her?"

"I'm not sure, but he has a lot of anger. I want to visit that gym and find out what time he was there but it is probably already closed so we'll do that first thing in the morning."

Jo watched Mac looked at this watch again. "So, you can Christine have a special date planned tonight," she said.

Mac smiled that smile that Jo had not seen before Christine came along. "Yeah," he said. "I have to get home and get ready. My shift is almost over."

Jo could remember the time that he would not even leave the office. She had gotten on to him about that many times. "It's nice to see you leaving the office," she said.

"I have a reason to leave it now. The office used to be my whole life but I have other things now."

"You really like Christine, huh?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I do. She's special and she's fun to be with."

"I hope we can have lunch tomorrow."

"Maybe we can. I don't have any plans tomorrow."

They arrived back at the lab and Mac wrote out what had happened with that interview and that the weapon that Butch had was not a match to the caliber of the bullet that killed Michelle Kravets. He looked at his watch again and started to stand up but then his phone rang. He smiled as he saw that it was Christine calling. "Hello," he said as he was walking around his desk.

"Where are you, Mac Taylor?" Christine asked.

"I'm coming," Mac said. "I'm leaving the office right now."

"I'll be waiting for you."

Mac smiled as he put his phone away and started for the elevator. "Mac!" someone called.

Mac stopped and looked around to see Jo coming toward him with a paper. "We have proof that Michelle owned a thirty-eight caliber weapon," Jo said. She gave the paper to Mac.

Mac looked at the report. "So, maybe she was killed with her own weapon?" he said.

"We didn't find a weapon in her apartment."

"Then the killer still has it. She must have had it with her and they used it."

"But the killer would have to be someone who knew she had that weapon."

Mac nodded. "Maybe she kept it in the shop."

"But the killer would have to know where."

"None of the other employees mentioned a weapon."

"Right."

Mac looked at Jo. "Are you saying that they all know who killed her?" he asked.

"I don't know, Mac, but if she had a weapon in that place, they must have known it."

"Jo, when something like this happens, people are in a little shock and they don't think of everything at once. They probably didn't think of that at the time. We can go into this tomorrow."

"Don't you think we should find out about this now?" Jo asked.

"Jo, we can do it in the morning."

"Are you letting your personal time get in the way of doing your job? This is important."

Mac stared at her with a frown. "I said, we can do it in the morning," he said sternly. "I don't have to explain anything to you. My shift is over and I'm leaving."

Jo could not argue with that reprimand. She watched as Mac turned to leave. She had been hoping that he would want to go on with this. Why was she trying to keep him away from Christine? She was letting her jealousy get the best of her. He was absolutely right that they could go into this in the morning. She was supposed to be going home anyway.

Mac went to the elevator wondering what Jo's problem was. Any other time, she would be wanting him to get out of this lab and go home to get some rest. He shook his head. He did not have time to think about Jo's problems. He was going to enjoy his date with Christine and no one was going to hinder that.


	5. Chapter 5

Mac got a cab to Christine's restaurant where she had wanted him to come for their dinner. He decided he did not want to go home first. He supposed she did not want to go home and mess up her kitchen after cooking at the restaurant all day. When he arrived he paid the cab fare and went up to the door. He tried to see in but it was pretty dark inside. After all, she had said they would dine by candlelight. He took a deep breath and blew it out before he went in…or tried to go in. The door was locked. He knocked on the door and soon, Christine came from the kitchen which Mac could see was well-lit. He smiled as she smiled at him behind the door. "Come in," she said as she opened the door.

Mac could not help but notice the aromas coming through the door when she opened it. "Mmmm, something smells good," he said.

Mac went inside and followed Christine to the kitchen. Then she stopped and kissed him. "I'm glad you could make it," she said.

"Me too," Mac replied and kissed her again. He stifled a yawn, not wanting her to think he was sleepy or worse, bored. He was happy to be there with her but he was so sleepy, he thought he might fall asleep on the table. Now that he was away from the office, he felt more relaxed and the sleep loss was creeping up on him.

"Dinner is not quite ready yet," Christine said. "But I have something I want to show you."

Mac looked at the table which was set in red and with candles. "The table is beautiful," he said and looked at her with a smile. "And so are you."

"Thank you. You're handsome as always." Christine took his hand and led him to the room adjacent to the restaurant. "This is the surprise that I want to show you."

Mac was curious now. Christine opened the two French doors that led into the room. "Wait right there," she said.

Mac waited while she went in and turned the light on. He was surprised to see a big, empty room with a large chandelier hanging in the middle. There was one step up into the room which looked surprisingly round. "A dance floor?" Mac asked.

Christine smiled. "They've been working on it for a few days," she said.

Mac looked at her. "You're wanting me to dance?"

"Of course."

"I'm not much of a dancer."

Christine held her hand out to him. "Come on. It will be fun…and romantic."

Mac looked at her hand and then accepted. He walked up onto the dance floor. Christine went over to the music control and music started. Mac smiled as he recognized the song which was "At Last". Christine walked over to him and smiled. "You know I've never been very good at this," Mac said.

"It doesn't matter," Christine replied. "It's just you and me."

Mac looked into her eyes. "I love you," he said without even hesitating.

Christine was surprised to hear that. "Wow, I think I should have gotten this dance floor sooner," she joked but then became serious. "I love you too, Mac Taylor."

Mac pulled her close to him and kissed her and then they started to dance. Christine was surprised. "You have been holding out on me," she said.

Mac's smile beamed. "Hey, I have to keep some secrets from that crowd at the office," he said.

"You could dance all along."

"I guess I'm a little shy."

Mac started to move to the song. Christine felt like she was dancing in the clouds. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beating as they moved. He thought this song was perfect. He thought his lonely days were over. Christine was thinking that she could never find any place she would rather be.

After that song, they went to the kitchen. "I think it should be done by now," Christine said. "You sit and I will be right out."

"I can help," Mac said.

"No." Christine kissed him. "You sit."

Mac smiled. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that." He sat down at the table and blew out a breath. He definitely had finally found the right woman. She was not overbearing and she was not jealous or always looking over his shoulder. He tried to keep from yawning. He did not want to yawn. She might think he was bored and he was not. He looked at the bottle of wine that was sitting in a bucket of ice on the table. He thought if he drank any of that, he would definitely fall asleep.

Christine soon came from the kitchen with a tray with two plates on it and two wine glasses. She set it all on the table and then sat down. She looked at Mac. "You want to open the bottle?" she asked.

Mac paused a moment. "Sure," he said. He got up and opened the bottle of wine and poured some in each glass being careful not to give himself much. Then he sat back down.

Christine waited for Mac to try the meat she had prepared. He took a bite and chewed a moment. He smiled. "Delicious," he said.

Christine smiled. "I'm glad you like it." She took a bite herself. "So how was your day today?"

Mac considered that. "Well, we have one suspect left and no proof that he killed his sister."

"His sister?"

"Yes. I don't know if he did it or not." Mac leaned on the table and chewed as he thought about that case. "He is definitely angry but this crime doesn't seem to be based on anger. There was no violence. Although shooting someone is violent, there was no fight. A murder that is based on anger usually purges the anger and I just don't see that here."

Christine stared at him a moment. She could not imagine working in his line of work. "So what do you think it is?" she asked.

"It seems to me that someone wants it to look like someone killed her in anger and they must have known about the arguments."

"Someone that you wouldn't suspect?"

"Or someone we haven't even met yet. Adam was looking through her computer files." Mac looked at Christine. "I'm sorry for going on about that."

"No, I want to hear how your day went."

"Well, how has your day been?"

"Pretty busy. Since I have started opening for breakfast it has been quite a busy day."

"You're a great cook."

"I even hired a waitress and someone to help me with the cooking."

Mac smiled. "Hey, that is growth."

"I owe it to you. You helped me get more customers with your influence."

"I didn't have to help much. Once they tasted it, they knew they wanted to come back."

"But they would have never come if it hadn't been for you."

Mac smiled his mischievous smile. "I'll take ten percent," he said.

Christine laughed. "You might deserve it."

"Are you officially hiring me as your public relations officer?"

"Absolutely."

Mac took another bite of his food and smiled as he thought he could definitely get used to this. He felt relaxed…too relaxed right now. It was all he could do to keep from yawning. "I didn't sleep good last night," he said. "It was so humid in the apartment, I just couldn't rest."

"I was up too. I thought about calling you but I thought you might be asleep."

"I wasn't. I laid there on that couch and stared at the TV until I felt like a zombie and then I finally went back to bed and tossed and turned, but I must have finally fell asleep because I woke up to the alarm this morning."

"Maybe you'll sleep better tonight."

"Maybe I will with all this good food in my stomach."

Christine smiled. "I think that can help sometimes if you're not hungry."

"I don't think I was hungry but maybe I was."

When they were done eating, they went back to the dance floor and danced to another song and then went out to Christine's car. "I'll drop you off at home," she said.

"You can go home first and then I will just get a cab home," Mac replied.

"I go home alone every night, Mac."

"But I'm here this time."

Christine smiled. "I wouldn't care if you were here every time."

Mac looked at her. "I would like it too."

Mac fought to stay awake as they were going to Christine's apartment. He had gotten to the point that he felt like his eyes were crossing but he wanted to escort her home. Maybe he was a little old-fashioned but that was his privilege.

They arrived at Christine's apartment building and she parked in the parking garage. Mac certainly did not like the idea of her walking through this place alone as he followed her through the dark parking garage toward the elevator. He knew how dangerous places like this could be. They got into the elevator and went up to Christine's apartment. "They don't have a security guard out there?" Mac asked.

"In the garage?" Christine asked. "Yes. He's watching on monitors. Actually there are two, and they are right there in their office. If they saw something happening, they would be there in a second."

"Oh." That made Mac feel a little better.

Christine opened the door and they went in. "Make yourself at home," she said. "I have to go and get these shoes off."

Mac looked at the sofa as Christine went to her room. He thought if he sat down on that sofa, he would be gone but he sat down anyway.

Christine pulled her shoes off and sighed as her feet felt relieved. That was the first thing she did every day when she came home was take off those shoes. She thought it did not matter what kind of shoes a person wore when they were on their feet all day. She got into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She supposed Mac would not stay long. She went back into the living room and found Mac asleep on the sofa. She smiled. She thought she would not disturb him. She put his feet up on the sofa, which he did not protest at all and did not even wake up. She put a blanket over him and kissed him lightly. "Good night, my love," she whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

Mac woke up and thought he was on his own couch but he thought it seemed softer than usual. He rolled off the couch and stood up thinking of going to bed and that was when he realized he was not at home. "Oh, no," he thought. He remembered arriving at Christine's apartment…he rubbed his face. He had fallen asleep before she even got back into the living room. She must have just covered him up and let him sleep. How could he fall asleep? What must she think of him now? He could not even stay awake for the rest of their date. He lay back down on the sofa and was soon asleep again.

When Mac woke up the next morning, he wondered if he should just leave, but then he smelled coffee. He sat up on the couch and looked toward the kitchen. He thought Christine must be already awake. He got up and wondered if she had a guest bathroom here in the immediate area but he did not see anything. He supposed he would have to go into the kitchen to see if she was in there.

Just as Mac was about to go into the kitchen, Christine was about to go out. They pushed on the door at the same time. Mac looked up at the door wondering if it was stuck, but then the door swung out and he barely avoided getting his nose flattened. Christine gasped. "Mac, I didn't know you were standing there," she said.

"I think we were having a traffic jam," Mac said. He felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"Don't worry about that. You were tired. I didn't mind you sleeping here. It actually made me feel safe. Are you hungry?"

"I guess I'll have to go home and get ready for work," Mac said.

"You can have something before you go, can't you?"

"Sure." Mac looked around them. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Right through there to the right."

"Thanks."

Mac went down the hall to the bathroom. He was about to get desperate. When he was done with that, he washed his hands and then used a little mouthwash. He did not want to have morning breath. He had not thought of that in a long time. He went back down to the kitchen where Christine had a small table in the kitchen with two chairs. "We can eat here," she said. "I usually have a quick breakfast here before I go to work."

Mac sat down. "I really am sorry that I fell asleep like that," he said. "I enjoyed our date last night."

"Me too," Christine said as she sat down. "I even enjoyed finding you asleep on the sofa."

"You have a comfortable couch."

"You can sleep on it anytime."

They ate breakfast and then headed out the door. Mac kissed Christine at the door. "Have a good day," he said.

"You too, and catch that murderer," Christine said. "I'll drive you home."

"Sure."

They went down to Christine's car and she drove to Mac's apartment. He went inside and got a shower and got dressed for work. He certainly did not want to show up with the same clothes on this morning. He got a cab to the office and went up to the lab. At least he did not feel like he was walking in his sleep this morning.

Jo watched as Mac walked to his office. He was actually whistling and he picked up the newspaper on his way. He was looking at the paper as he sat down at his desk. She could not believe he was looking at the paper rather than looking at the case they had going. She had not even been able to get him interested in it last night, but he was supposed to get back on it this morning. She walked down to Mac's office.

Mac saw Jo coming to his office. The door was open so she came and stood in the door. "You ready to dive into this case again?" she asked.

"Of course," Mac said.

Jo sat down on the sofa as Mac picked up the folder for the case. "So how was your date?" she asked.

"It was good," Mac said without looking up from the file. "So, Michelle owned a thirty-eight and it wasn't in her apartment." Mac paused a moment. "I guess one question is: where is that weapon now and was it used to kill her? Did she keep it in the shop?" He looked at Jo. "We have a lot of questions to ask."

"I agree. Who are we going to ask all these questions to?"

"I think we'll start with those women who work in the shop."

They headed for the elevator. As they were almost there, the doors opened and Christine walked out. Mac was surprised to see her but he smiled. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Christine held up his phone. "You left this at the apartment this morning," she said.

Mac's smile brightened. "I knew I must have left it there. I was going to drop by the restaurant later."

"Oh, I messed up your surprise?"

Mac bit his bottom lip. "You did."

Jo thought she would roll her eyes at their exchange. She hated hearing other people flirt. She walked on over to the elevator to wait for Mac. She watched as he put his arm around Christine and they came to the elevator. They got in the elevator. "I guess I'll be working on this case all day today," Mac said.

"I'll try not to call you or text you," Christine said with a smile.

"Text is okay. I'll look when I have time."

Christine looked at Jo. "Keep him out of trouble," she said unaware of Jo's jealousy.

"Oh, I will," Jo said trying to muster a smile.

The elevator arrived at the lobby and they went outside. "I'll see you later," Christine said and kissed Mac gently.

"I'll call you," Mac replied.

Christine went to her car and Mac and Jo went to the Avalanche. Mac remembered their argument the day before. "You sure you don't want to drive?" he asked.

"No, I would rather not," Jo said. She got in on the passenger side.

Mac got in the driver's seat and they headed for the beauty salon. "I want to talk to Victoria Cory again," Mac said. "She should know it if Michelle kept a weapon in that shop."

"I would agree," Jo said.

Mac drove to the beauty salon and they went inside. All four of the women were in the shop and they all had a customer. Mac walked over to Victoria Cory. "Detective Taylor," she said.

"Yes," Mac replied. "I would like to talk to you."

"Could you wait just a minute?"

"Sure."

Mac walked over to Amy March who was just finishing her customer. "I need to talk to you," he said and showed her his badge. "You're Amy March, right?"

"Yes," the woman answered. She had light blue eyes and black hair.

"I'm Detective Taylor. I'm working on the case of Michelle Kravets' murder."

"You know who did it yet?"

"No, but we want to know if you knew whether she kept a gun in this shop or not?"

"Sure, but she kept it in that office back there."

"In the office where the safe was?"

"Yes."

"Can you show me where?"

"Sure."

Mac followed Amy to the office noticing that Victoria watched them as they walked back there. Amy went into the room and turned the light on. She walked over to the desk. "She kept it in this drawer right here," she said and opened the bottom desk drawer. "Right there."

Mac looked in the drawer which had some yellow envelopes in it. "I guess she had it here in case someone tried to rob the safe," he said. "Did all of you know the gun was here?"

"Of course. It wouldn't do us any good if we didn't know it was there."

"Right." Mac wrote that down in his notepad. "Did anyone have anything against Michelle? Had she been arguing with anyone besides her brother or her ex?"

"Victoria didn't get along with her too well, but I wouldn't say they argued. Michelle was a lot different than Victoria and called Victoria a square because she didn't like her lifestyle. I don't think Victoria liked that very much."

"But they didn't argue about it?"

"I never heard them."

"Victoria said that Michelle liked to have threesomes and had flirted with everyone in this shop."

"Victoria doesn't know as much as she thinks she does," Amy said and folded her arms. "I don't care what she thinks. I have not done that, but she is right about Michelle though. She was wild."

Mac thought this case was getting more confusing. Everyone in the shop knew where the gun was and that it was there. "Where were you yesterday morning around seven?" he asked.

"I was getting ready for work," Amy replied.

"Anyone can vouch for that?"

"Probably my next door neighbor, Mrs. Gordon. When I turn my shower on, she doesn't have enough hot water and vice versa. It's just according to who turns theirs on first."

"And she was first?"

"Yes, and she came over to complain about it like I can do anything about it. She's an old woman though. I've told the landlord but he doesn't do anything."

"Thanks, Ma'am."

Mac walked out of the office. Jo was questioning Karen Sims and Linda Nealsen. Mac went back over to Victoria Cory. She was just finishing with her customer. "Can we talk now?" Mac asked.

"Sure," Victoria replied.

"You knew that Michelle had the weapon in the back room?"

"Yes. Everyone did."

"Where were you yesterday morning?"

"I was taking my morning run."

"Anyone with you? Anyone see you?"

"No, no one was with me. I go running every morning to clear my head. I have children, you know."

"So, no one knew where you were?"

"My husband knew I left and came back."

Mac wrote that down. "Did you have an argument with Michelle?" he asked. "About her lifestyle or anything?"

"Like I told you, I didn't like her lifestyle but I had nothing to do with it."

"Are you good friends with any of the women here?"

"I wouldn't say I was close with any of them."

"You work here with them all day and you don't socialize with any of them?"

"I have a family, Detective. When I get out of here, I go home to my family."

"You heard anyone else around here arguing with Michelle?"

"She and Linda had an argument one day but I don't know what it was about but they seemed to get over it and were friends again."

Mac wrote that down. "What about Karen?"

"Karen is pretty quiet."

"Who runs this place now that she's gone?"

"Her brother of course."

"None of you will run the beauty salon?"

"No."

Mac wrote that down. "Thank you for your time."

Mac walked over to Jo who was just finishing her conversation with Linda Nealsen. They walked outside. "So what did you find out?" Mac asked.

"Neither of them seem to be close to Michelle or they just don't want to admit that they are," Jo replied. "Linda had an argument with her a few days ago about her hours but it didn't amount to much according to her."

"Victoria does not have a reliable alibi. Amy has an alibi."

"Karen has one but Linda doesn't."

"Butch has an alibi and I don't think Andrew is involved in this." Mac thought a moment. "We have to find that murder weapon wherever it may be now. They all knew it was there."

"I think this is becoming a difficult case."

"So we have three suspects," Mac said. "We have to check out some alibis to narrow them down a little."

"Are we splitting up?" Jo asked.

"Well, we could cover more ground that way."

"Why don't we meet for lunch at my favorite hamburger joint?"

"Sure. I'll see you there. I'm checking out Butch's alibi as well as Victoria's and Amy's."

"I'll check out Karen's alibi and Linda's. We'll meet at about twelve for lunch?"

"Sure."

"I'll see you then."

They went out to the Avalanche and Mac dropped Jo off at the precinct. Mac went on to the gym where Butch claimed to have been working out the previous morning. He parked in front of the gym and went inside. The inside of the gym smelled like sweat and leather. Mac thought the leather smell was surprising.

A woman came over to Mac. She was a little taller than him and had blond hair and blue eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing a blue leotard. "Hi," she said. "You looking to join the gym?"

"No," Mac said and showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor. I'm looking for Martina."

"That would be me. Can I help you?"

"Do you know a man named Butch Freeman?"

"Of course."

"Was he here yesterday morning around seven?"

"He's always here around that time."

Mac nodded. "He didn't take any breaks or anything, did he?"

"No. I like to just sit and watch his muscles work."

"And you would know if he got up and left."

"Yes, and he didn't go anywhere yesterday morning."

"Thanks."

Mac walked out of the gym. Well, that was one suspect down. Butch could not have done it because he was at the gym like he said he was. He would have to go and check out Victoria Cory's alibi next. He wondered about her. He thought she had some concealed anger that she did not want anyone to know about.

Mac went to Victoria's address, hoping that her husband would be there. He walked into the building and found the right apartment and knocked on the door. He could hear a child crying inside the apartment. Finally he heard someone sliding the chain. A young woman was at the door. "Yes?" she said.

"I'm looking for Jason Cory," Mac said. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor."

"He's not here right now," the woman said. "I'm the babysitter."

"Were you here yesterday morning?"

"I was by eight."

"So you weren't here at seven?"

"No."

"Have you noticed Victoria Cory arguing with anyone?"

"Well, I try not to butt into people's business."

"Let's just make an exception this time."

"She and her husband had a big argument not long ago."

"Do you know what it was about?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounded like they were arguing over an affair."

"An affair? Did he have an affair?"

"I think it was Victoria who had one."

"And she told her husband?"

"I don't know how he found out but he was pretty angry about it and Victoria left here angry."

"Does she ever mention a woman named Michelle Kravets?"

"I heard her mention that name before. She talked about what a slut that woman was. I heard she was murdered."

"Yes, she was. Did Victoria ever say anything else about Michelle?"

"No."

"Where does Mr. Cory work?"

"He works at a gym," the woman said. "It's called the Dumbbell Gym."

Mac scowled at that name. "Thanks."

Mac walked away from the apartment shaking his head at the name of that gym. He would have to go there and find Jason Cory. He walked out to the Avalanche and headed that way. It was quite a long way to that gym. He thought about Christine and the time they had last night. He smiled as he thought of the song they had danced to. He wondered if Christine felt that way about him, but he supposed she did since she played the song. He had always liked that song and Claire had liked that song too. He could not help but think of Claire sometimes. He had meant it when he said he loved Christine but he loved Claire too. He supposed that love would never die. It certainly was not any less. He had dreamed about her not long ago and dreamed that he was standing in his office talking to her. He did not know when he had that dream but he remembered it somehow. He had been a little confused when he woke up after being shot. He barely remembered waking up, and he remembered nothing about being shot. He could remember going into the pharmacy and seeing the guy with the gun and he even remembered shooting the guy but…after that, there was nothing. He had tried to remember but he could not. He thought he must have been shot after he saw the guy with the gun so there must have been someone else in the pharmacy. He knew there had been someone else because the others had told him what happened as far as they could piece it together.

Mac shook his head. He hated it when he drifted off into those thoughts. It made him nervous to think about it. He had come very close to death. He let the window down a little to get some fresh air. When he thought about that, it made him very nervous and he had thought about it when he saw the victim the morning before. If that bullet had been a little to the left…he would be like Michelle Kravets although she was not shot in the back. He knew what a bullet could do to a person's body. His body had gone through a lot of healing. A bullet could be traveling fast enough to make a wide path through and even force organs out of its way. Even if the organ was not damaged by the bullet, it could be damaged as the bullet went by because of the speed of the bullet.

Mac knew he was lucky to be alive. He tried not to think about being shot very much because of how it made him feel but sometimes those thoughts just crept into his thoughts and he could not stop thinking about it. It made him feel like he could not breathe good and that his heart was beating too fast. The psychiatrist he had seen told him it was an anxiety attack. He tried to tell himself that he was okay and it was in the past but he supposed that when something like that happened, it was hard to forget for anyone. He had known cops who had to quit the force after something like that because they could not get past it. He did not want this to get the best of him.

Mac finally arrived at the other gym. He leaned on the steering wheel a moment trying to get his nerves under control. How could something make him so nervous when he could not even remember it? He thought it would be even worse if he could remember the actual act of being shot. He got out of the Avalanche and walked over to the gym. He stood at the door a moment before he went in. When he felt like he could, he went in.

Mac walked over to the desk where there was a woman sitting. "Hi," she said. "Can I help you?"

Mac looked at her a moment. "Yes," he said. "I'm looking for Jason Cory."

The woman stood up. "He's back here." She looked at Mac a moment. "Are you alright?"

Mac looked at her. "Yes. I'm Detective Taylor. I need to talk to Jason."

"Sure. I'll show you where he is."

Mac followed the woman back through the gym until they came to another area where there were weights and weight machines. "Jason, this is Detective Taylor," the woman said. "He wants to talk to you."

Jason was tall and was wearing a red tank top and blue shorts which revealed that he was not wasting his time in the gym. He walked over to Mac. "How can I help you?" he asked. "Is this about Michelle Kravets?"

"Yes," Mac said. "Your wife said she was on her morning run yesterday morning when the murder took place around seven."

"She left the house a little before seven," Jason said.

"How long before?"

"I don't know. I wasn't in there when she left. I don't get up until seven."

"Did you know when she got up?"

"Not that morning. She had been up with the baby and I guess she fell asleep on the sofa. Why?"

"I understand you and your wife had a big argument a few days ago."

Jason frowned. "What does that have to do with a murder? Yeah, we argued."

"Could I ask what it was about?"

Jason threw the towel he was holding down on the weight table. "Can't anyone argue anymore without having to tell the police?" he asked.

"I promise it won't go any further than here if it's not important to this case."

"She had an affair."

"How did you find out?"

Jason scowled and looked at Mac. "Michelle told me," he said slowly. "Are you suggesting that Victoria killed her?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Mac said. "I'm just trying to get facts."

"Victoria would not commit murder! She loves me and our kids. Are you crazy?"

Mac stared at the man. "She has no alibi for the time of the murder," he said. "And you said Michelle told you about the affair? Why?"

Jason frowned. "I don't know," he said. "Victoria was very upset about it though. And I was too. I couldn't believe she would cheat on me. We haven't been together since then. That's hard to forget. I've never cheated on her. What would you do?"

Mac frowned. He had never had that problem. "I don't know," he said. "Did she say who she had an affair with?"

Jason frowned. "No, she wouldn't tell me. She said she didn't want me to know. I figured, why should I know. It would probably only make it worse."

Mac wrote all that down. He had to admit this was looking in another direction now. He looked at Jason. "Thanks for your time," he said and turned to leave.

Mac went out to the Avalanche. It was almost 11 am now. He supposed he could go back to the lab and write out what he had found so far, and he would have to go and talk to Victoria Cory again. She had more explaining to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Mac sat at his desk writing his report and Jo came in around 11:30. "Well," she said. "I feel like I have been around the world."

"So do I," Mac replied. "I had to visit two gyms."

"Did you find out anything important?"

"Victoria Cory's alibi is not reliable. No one actually knows where she was at seven. She left her house before seven and went for a run. Her husband doesn't even know when she left. And furthermore than that, the argument she had with her husband was about an affair that 'she' had, and Michelle told her husband about it."

"Who was the affair with?" Jo asked.

"He didn't know. Victoria wouldn't tell him."

Jo folded her arms. "So, we have a victim who likes to have threesomes and a woman who claims she is all about her family and suddenly, she and her husband are having an argument because of an affair she had and suddenly, the person who caused that argument is dead."

Mac raised his eyebrows. "Sounds very suspicious, doesn't it?" he asked.

"Yes. So what are we going to do about it?"

Mac looked at his watch. "We're going to go and eat lunch and then we're going to ask her about it."

"Sounds good to me."

Jo was glad she would get to have Mac alone for a while. They walked to the elevator and went down to the Avalanche. "I would have thought it was Butch who committed that murder," Jo declared.

"If I had had to guess, I would have to," Mac said. "He seemed to be very angry but I got to thinking that this didn't look like a murder of anger." Mac paused a moment. "What about Linda and Karen?"

"Karen's alibi checks out but Linda's alibi was not all that reliable. It was about like Victoria's alibi. She went out and no one really knew when she left but knew when she came back."

"Maybe they did it together. Victoria and Linda could have done it together."

"But why would Michelle tell Victoria's husband that she had an affair? And why would Victoria get that upset over it? Why wouldn't she just quit the job and go somewhere else?"

"I just think it's got something to do with Michelle's sexual habits and I don't think Victoria has been completely honest about what went on."

"What do you mean?"

"I just wonder if Michelle was involved in Victoria's affair. Maybe it wasn't like an ongoing affair, maybe it was just a one-time thing or something."

"Oh, you think that Victoria was involved in a threesome with Michelle and they had a falling out and Michelle told Victoria's husband?"

"Jason Cory said he didn't know who Victoria had an affair with. He said she wouldn't tell him."

Jo looked out the window. "So all this is over a threesome that she had? She killed this woman over that?"

"Maybe she was embarrassed about it," Mac suggested. "Maybe Michelle tried to get her to do it again and when she refused she told her husband."

"But why wouldn't she tell him that it was her?"

"I don't know, but maybe Victoria will have some sort of answer."

"And where did she hide that weapon?"

"Don Flack is still looking into that. If we find out that Victoria had a threesome with Michelle and that Linda was involved somehow too, then we can get a warrant for her apartment," Mac said.

They arrived at the burger joint and went inside. It was a little crowded even at this time of day. "Looks like we're in for a long wait," Mac said.

"Come on," Jo replied. "Let's get a table."

Mac followed Jo to a table that was vacant and they sat down. "The waitress will come and take our orders," Jo said.

"Great," Mac said. He looked at his phone and there was a message on there from Christine. He smiled as he read it: _I know you're receiving this message because I brought your phone to you. I just wanted you to know that I am thinking about you._

_ What are we doing tonight? _Mac texted on his phone.

Jo could see that smile on Mac's face that only appeared when he was with Christine or talking about her so she knew he must be texting to her. "So, how was your date last night?" Jo asked.

"It was great," Mac replied.

The waitress came and took their orders and then she brought their drinks to them. Mac sipped his drink and then looked at Jo. "Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure," Jo replied.

"Last night…" Mac was not sure he should tell Jo this but he wanted some advice and she was his friend. "I told Christine that I love her."

Jo almost strangled on her soda. Mac scowled at her. "You alright?" he asked.

Jo nodded and held up a finger. "Just give me a minute," she said. She finally got the soda where it belonged. "Sorry about that."

Jo looked at Mac. "You just now told her that?" she asked. "I thought you two were sleeping together."

Mac stared at her a moment. "What gave you that idea? I never told you that."

"Well, I just assumed."

"I don't want to jump the broom yet."

"Wow, you're very patient, aren't you?"

Mac frowned. "That's none of your business," he said. "I want to get Christine a gift. What should I give her?"

"I don't know. Why not a dozen roses?"

"Just roses?"

"Roses are special, Mac." Jo could not believe he was asking her about this. "Are you sure you are doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Christine is a lot younger than you. What are you going to do when she wants to take you out with her friends?"

Mac scowled. "She's not that much younger than me," he said. "Besides that doesn't matter."

"That's what people always say until they 'jump the broom' and start going out with each other's friends."

Mac frowned. "Christine would never feel that way, and neither would I," he said.

"Mac, trust me, I have seen it happen lots of times. I just think you should think this through especially before you start buying her gifts."

"I went to a party with her before. I wasn't out of place with her friends."

"That was just a party, Mac."

"What are you getting at?"

"Nothing. I just think you should think about the difference in your ages."

Mac was surprised by this conversation. He had never even thought of that. Would it be that way? He and Christine had never had that conversation. Maybe he should bring that up the next time they talked. Just then, his phone rang with another text message.

Jo could see she had raised some doubts in Mac's mind. She hoped maybe it would be enough to get him to stop this ridiculous pursuit of his. She thought Christine must be at least 10 years younger than Mac, but she did not know. She was sure she was younger though. Mac was no spring chicken anymore. She watched Mac send a text back to Christine but she noticed his smile was not so bright now. She could not believe they were not sleeping together. Maybe he just did not want to admit it.

Mac sent a message back to Christine and then sipped his drink again. The waitress brought their meals. Mac stared at his hamburger a moment. He did not think Christine would judge him like that. Why would Jo say something like that? He looked at her. "Why did you tell me that?" he asked.

"Tell you what?" Jo asked.

"That I'm too old for Christine? Why would you think that?"

Jo stared at him a moment. "I just think you should think about these things," she said.

Mac frowned. "That's never crossed my mind," he said. "Christine and I are happy together."

"She's been by your side while you were recovering."

Mac thought of that. It had taken him a long time to recover from that gunshot wound. It had been a hard climb back to where he was now and yes, Christine had been there with him every step of the way. He supposed they had a lot of time to get to know each other. She had driven him to his therapy appointments several times and had helped him keep his spirits up.

Mac looked at Jo. "Christine would never think anything like that," he declared. "What type of gift should I give her? A pendant?"

"You should ask someone else," Jo said.

"Why? I thought you were my friend. You're a woman."

Jo looked at him. "And that makes me an expert on what you should buy for her?"

"What's wrong with you? You've been snapping at me for the last two days. Did I do something to offend you?"

"You talk about Christine all the time. I just get tired of hearing your mush."

"I thought you were happy that I was dating someone. Wasn't it you who told me that I needed to get out more and enjoy life?"

"You don't have to rub it in my face. You know I don't have anyone."

Mac was surprised to hear Jo talk like that. "You always seem to be happy," he said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just peachy. I love my kids, Mac, but sometimes even mothers need adult conversation and adult companionship. I guess you could count Russ but that doesn't give me much comfort when he shows up."

"Because you won't let it."

Jo stared at Mac, shocked at that statement. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mac said. He took a bite of his hamburger. "I don't want to argue with you anymore. Why are we arguing?"

"I think you're robbing the cradle."

"I am not!"

"I guess you like 'em young."

Mac was incredulous. "Well, how do you like your men? Old?"

Jo glared at him. "You're the one who asked me what to get for your little friend."

"Yeah, cause I thought you were my friend and you would help me."

"You thought wrong. I think you're with the wrong woman and I think she's too young for you."

"That's not your concern." Mac was starting to get angry. He did not know why she thought it was any of her business if he dated a younger woman. Besides, Christine was not that much younger than him. She just looked young. "For your information, Christine is only six years younger than me."

"So I missed it by four years. You should still think about what I said. I'm just trying to help you."

"It seems to me that you're trying to hurt me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to seem that way." Jo really did not intend for this conversation to go in this direction. She had been hoping to put a little doubt in his mind, not make him think she was insulting him or trying to get him to break up with Christine. She had just wanted to get him thinking.

Mac shifted in his chair. "You may be right but she and I will decide that," he said. "I just wondered what I should give her."

"I would start with roses."

"Maybe that would be best." Mac thought about that. He had given her roses more than once. He thought he should break up the monotony. He would decide himself. He should not have even asked Jo such a question. He supposed maybe it was a little rude for him to ask that…but why? She was his friend. He scowled slightly as he looked at Jo. Was she jealous? He had never thought of having a relationship with Jo. She had never mentioned it either. Surely that was not it. He thought maybe he would start taking Danny with him from now on.

When they were done eating, they went out to the Avalanche. Jo noticed how quiet Mac was. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking about what she had said or something else? He had not been this quiet in a long time.

"Well, let's go back to the lab and figure out what we do next," Mac said as he turned the Avalanche toward the lab.

"I thought we were going to interview Victoria Cory," Jo replied.

"We will but I want to see if Adam found anything in Michelle Kravets' computer yet. He's been working on it all day."

Jo wondered if that was really it but she had never known Mac to lie about anything. Mac did want to see if Adam had found anything but he also intended to take Danny and Flack with him to interview Victoria. They arrived at the lab and Mac went to his office. He got his file and went to the computer lab. Adam was goofing off as usual playing an air guitar. Mac stood there a moment and watched what Adam was doing. He wondered when Adam was going to stop acting like a big kid, but he knew he was a computer geek and they were all a little strange…at least by other people's standards. He thought they were just like that because they were hyperactive and they poured it all into that computer and they were geniuses. He certainly did not like searching a computer for evidence.

"Adam!" Mac said.

Adam jumped up out of his chair and clicked the mouse to relieve the computer screen of his music video. "Mac," he said.

"You found anything yet?"

"Just your typical emails. Nothing that looks illegal or threatening."

Mac nodded. "What were you doing there?"

"Uhm, I, well, I was working."

Mac tried hard not to smile. "You weren't goofing off?"

"Me? You know how seriously I take my job, Mac."

"Oh, yeah," Mac said. "You're right up there with me in that department."

"Absolutely."

"Keep up the good work."

Mac turned and left the computer lab. He almost laughed as he headed for the lab where Danny and Lindsey were. "Danny," he said. "Let's go and interview Victoria Cory. She has some more questions to answer."

Danny took off his lab coat. "You think she's our number one suspect?" he asked.

"I think that's a good possibility."

Mac left his folder in his office and he and Danny headed for the elevator. Jo came around the corner and watched them a moment. She had thought she was going with him for that interview. She thought she must have really hurt his feelings or he suspected that she was jealous. After all, he was a detective.

Mac and Danny went down to the Avalanche and Mac called Don and told him to meet them there at the beauty salon. Mac was still thinking about what he wanted to get for Christine. He looked at Danny and thought about asking him, but he did not want anyone else telling him he was too old for her. Then again, he did not think Danny would say that.

"Can I ask you something?" Mac asked.

"Sure," Danny replied.

"I want to get a gift for Christine. What do you think I should get?"

Danny was surprised by that question. It was not often that Mac let anyone know anything about his personal life. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Mac did not know if he should tell this but he thought he might as well. What did they think he was dating Christine for? He was not looking for a friend, he was looking for a wife. "I told her that I love her."

"Oh, so you're to that stage." Danny rubbed his chin. "I guess you could get her a piece of jewelry or something."

"That's what I was thinking. I've given her roses. I think I'm getting in a rut."

Danny chuckled at that. He thought Mac had dug out a deep rut in the last few years. "You should decide that yourself," he said. "You know how you feel about her, but I wouldn't get her a ring just yet."

"I wasn't considering a ring. I was thinking more like a bracelet or a pendant."

"Lindsey doesn't like bracelets. They get in her way. She doesn't like how the slide up and down her arm."

"Oh." Mac had not thought of that either. "Maybe a pendant then. I don't think she wears earrings."

"I wouldn't get her earrings. I think women like to choose those on their own."

"Right." Mac tried to remember what Claire thought about all that but he had been finding it hard to remember little details like that.

They arrived at the beauty salon and Don was there waiting. "You think we've found our murderer?" he asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I think we're close."

They went inside the beauty salon. Everyone looked up as they walked in. Mac hated that smell from the nail part of the salon. Don wondered if these people stayed high all the time. There were several women in the salon, some waiting. Mac walked over to Victoria who was cutting someone's hair. She looked at him.

"I need to talk to you," Mac said.

"Can't you wait until I'm done with this?" Victoria asked.

"No."

Victoria frowned and gave her customer over to Karen. She led Mac, Danny and Don into the office. Victoria folded her arms. "What's this about?" she asked.

"I think you know what it's about," Mac said. "You want to tell me or should I start?"

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Let's take her down town," Don said. "I haven't arrested anyone all day."

"Get her," Mac said. "We'll see if your tongue loosens up when you're in the interrogation room."

Victoria glared at Mac. "Alright!" she said.

"Now, tell me about the argument that you had with your husband."

Victoria rolled her eyes at them. "Why do I have to tell you all this?" she asked. "Yes, I had an argument with my husband and that little witch caused it."

"In our profession, that's called motive," Don said. "So you better start doing some explaining."

"I don't care that she's dead, but that doesn't mean I killed her."

"Oh, we don't think you did it by yourself," Mac said. "I think you had help. Maybe you pulled the trigger or maybe you didn't. The affair that you and your husband were arguing over…it was with Michelle in a threesome, wasn't it?"

Victoria stared at him a moment. "Yes, it was," she said. "It was stupid! The most stupid thing I ever did! I thought maybe it would be fun. After all, I've never done anything, but after, I was totally disgusted with myself and I told her that she better not ever come near me again, but she didn't see it that way. She held it over my head and said she would tell my husband if I didn't do what she wanted. I was like a slave at this place."

"And you got angry," Mac said. "You and your partner went on your morning run like usual and you came here and you killed her because you knew she came here early to open up this shop and get things ready for business."

"She didn't know anything about business. And you can't prove I did anything."

"You'd be surprised," Don said. He looked at Mac. "Let me run her in."

"She's right. We don't have any proof, but we're going to find it." Mac stepped closer to Victoria. "I know you hid that weapon somewhere and I'm going to find it…or maybe your little partner in there has it."

Victoria glared at him. "Get out of my shop."

Mac, Don and Danny turned to leave. Mac looked at her again. "We're leaving now, but we'll be back," he said.

Mac walked out to Linda Nealsen. She stared at him a moment. "You were involved in this somehow, weren't you?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Linda said.

"Yes you do. You would be better off if you tell us what happened. Tell us where that weapon is. One of you pulled that trigger."

"Don't look at me."

Mac, Danny and Don left the shop and went out to the Avalanche. "What now?" Don asked.

"We get a warrant," Mac said. "I'm going to search their apartments and see if they hid that weapon. I believe they thought we would suspect Butch and they would not be suspected but they were wrong. I'm almost certain they did it."

"I agree," Danny said. "But if we don't find that weapon, we can't prove it."

Mac looked at Don. "You watch these women while we get the warrant. I don't want them disposing of that weapon."

"I'm on it," Don said and went to his car.

Mac and Danny headed back to the lab. Mac thought he had his murderers and he believed they were both involved.


	8. Chapter 8

Mac and Danny arrived at the lab and Mac requested the warrant. He hoped it would not take until the next morning to get it. Jo met Mac at his office. "Why didn't you take me with you to interview Victoria Cory?" she asked.

Mac went on to his desk to write more on his report. "I don't have to explain anything to you," he said. "I'm the head of this crime lab and I'll run the way I see fit. I wanted to take Danny with me." He looked at Jo. "I'm your boss too, you know. You still have to do what I say."

Jo supposed she deserved that. "Yes, I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I forget that sometimes."

"You need to start remembering." Mac sat down at his desk and opened the file on his computer. He looked at Jo. "Did you want to talk about something else?"

"Mac, I'm sorry for what happened at lunch. I didn't mean to drive a wedge between us or cause you to get the wrong idea."

"Forget it. I shouldn't have asked you about that anyway. It was improper for me to ask you that."

"No it wasn't. We're friends, Mac. I shouldn't have reacted the way I have." Jo sat down on the sofa. "I just feel like I'm losing my friend."

Mac looked at her. "You're not losing me, Jo," he said. "Why would you think that?"

"I never knew how little I knew about you and now I may not have the chance to find out."

"Find out what?"

"Things that I don't know about you. What's your favorite color? What are your hobbies? I don't know any of that and you're one of my best friends."

"Jo, I don't know all that about you either."

Jo had to admit he was right. "We've never had enough time to talk," she said. "We're always busy."

"And you have your kids to think about when you get out of here. We have our own lives, Jo. We're just partners here."

"I work with you ever day and I don't even know the simple things about you. It's like that lab tech who was killed that time. We didn't know anything about her."

"Well, I suppose it's because of the line of work we're in. We work together here but our lives are somewhere else. When you're doing this, you're busy. You're not just passing the time."

"No time for small talk."

Mac paused a moment. "Jo, it's not how much we know about each other, it's that we know we're friends and that we will be there for each other. You were there for me when I was injured. You took me to therapy twice."

"Twice over four months, Mac."

"But Christine took me the rest of the time except after I could take myself."

"I guess I just thought I should do more."

"You did fine, Jo."

"I do care about you, Mac."

"I know you do, Jo, and I care about you, but I care about Christine. I love her, Jo, and I want you to be happy for me."

"I am, Mac. That today was…I don't know what you would call it. It was one of my worst moments, a rant. I guess I was jealous there for a while."

"Jo, there's someone out there who loves you for who you are."

"Yes, I know."

Jo stood up and started to leave the office. She stopped at the door and looked at Mac. "I would suggest you get her the pendant," she said. "I think she would love it."

Mac smiled. "Thanks."

Jo left the office. She could not believe she had acted so childish. She had been really jealous but she did not want Mac for her own. She just wanted to have a little of his time sometimes. She supposed she might be with him more right now than Christine was.

Mac typed more on his report and then his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, neither of these women have left the shop," Don said.

"Just stay with them, Don. I hope I will have the warrant soon."

"I gotta tell ya, it's boring out here watching people like this."

"Are you complaining?"

"Nah. Just trying to let you in on a little of my pain."

"I'll talk to you later, Don."

Mac put his phone away and continued with his report. He looked at his watch. It was after 2:30 now. If he was going to get something for Christine and actually have time to think about it, he would have to go some time soon. He finished what he was typing and went to his office door. No one seemed to be looking that way. He would go out and find something for her. After all, he had his phone and if anyone needed him, they could call.

Mac headed for the elevator noticing that Danny and Lindsey were not in the lab at the moment so maybe no one would see him leaving. He pressed the down button on the elevator and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive. Soon, it arrived and he was about to step in and almost ran right into Sheldon. "Mac," he said.

"Sheldon. I'm just on my way out."

"You need any help?"

"No. I'll be back soon."

"Okay."

Mac went on into the elevator and went down to the lobby. He blew out a breath. Why did he have to be so nervous? It was not like he was committing a crime or cheating. He had to get used to being comfortable about this. Everyone was not watching him anyway. They had their own problems to pay attention to in the lab. He always felt like everyone was watching him though and knew where he was going but there was no way they could know where he was going and he did not want them to know.

Mac went out to the Avalanche and drove to the jewelry store where he always went and go this watch fixed or got a new battery when he needed one. He walked in and the jeweler, Fred, knew him, of course. "Mac Taylor," he said. "What can I do for you? Is that old antique needing repairs again?"

Mac smiled. Fred was always teasing him about his old watch, but his grandfather had worn that watch. "No, not today, Fred," he said. "I need to look at some pendants."

"Pendants? Have you finally found a good woman?"

Mac smiled. "Fred."

"Alright, alright. What kind of pendants are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure, but I want to see some special ones, and I want them to be pretty."

"Well, I think I have something that you would like."

Fred took out a box from the display that had several pendants hung on it. Mac looked at them and thought about Christine. What would she like? He did not think she liked flashy jewelry. He had not seen her wearing any, not even when they went to the party. He picked out a pendant with a heart on it and diamonds around it. It had quite a price but he wanted something that she would remember him by that would be beautiful. Fred wrapped the pendant in a gift box and gave it to Mac.

"You know what?" Fred asked.

"What?" Mac asked.

"I would get her some nice roses to go with that."

"You would?"

"Yeah. Just some advice from an old man."

"I'm not so young."

"Everybody's young to me."

Mac smiled. Sometimes he felt that way himself. "Thanks, Fred."

Mac left the jewelry store and just then his phone rang with a text. He took it off his side and looked at it. He smiled as he saw that it was from Christine. He answered her before he got into the Avalanche. He decided he would take the gift back to his apartment before he went back to the lab. He did not want it to be there, but then again, he might not want to go all the way back home…no, he would take it home. He wanted to go home tonight and change. He did not want to wear the same clothes he had worked in all day, and besides, Christine had told him to wear blue jeans. He wondered what she had in mind. She had not told him everything that she had planned. He wondered if she always thought she had to have a surprise.

Mac arrived at his apartment building and went up to the apartment. He left the gift on his bed along with what he planned to wear that night. He did not usually lay out clothes but he thought he might be in a hurry tonight. He headed back to the lab and before he got there, his phone rang. He had it on the speaker so he pressed the talk button. "Taylor," he said.

"Mac, we have the warrant," Danny said.

"I'm on my way back."

"Where did you go? I didn't know you left."

"I have something I had to do."

"You're not out solving this murder by yourself, are you?"

"No, I'll be there in a few minutes if I don't get in a traffic jam."

"Okay."

Danny was smiling as he put his phone away. "What?" Lindsey asked.

"Mac snuck out," Danny said. "He must have had to go and steal a kiss."

Lindsey snickered about that. "Danny."

"What? He's human too."

Lindsey laughed. "I can't imagine Mac doing that."

"Well, he wouldn't tell me where he was going and nobody knew when he left."

"I saw him leave," Sheldon said. "He almost ran right into me at the elevator. He looked like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar."

Danny laughed and looked at Lindsey. "See?" Danny asked.

"You don't know that," Lindsey said.

"Yeah, but it's more fun to assume than to say, 'oh well he must have just had to go to the bathroom'."

"Danny. Why would he leave the building to do that?"

"See? The only reason I can think of that he would sneak out is to see Christine or something."

"How do you know he snuck out?"

"You heard Sheldon."

"He 'did' look guilty," Sheldon said and smiled.

"Oh please," Lindsey said. She looked at Sheldon. "So how are you and Camille coming along?"

"Great."

"Any wedding bells ringing yet?" Danny asked.

"No, not yet but hey, you never know."

Jo walked into the lab then. "So, what's going on?" she asked.

"We're waiting for Mac to get back," Danny said.

"Where is he?"

"We don't know. He snuck out earlier and nobody knew he was gone."

"We have the warrant?"

"Yes, and Mac will be here shortly."

Soon, Mac came from the elevator and everyone was waiting for him. Danny gave him the warrant. "Alright," Mac said. "Let's get going. Jo, Danny, you're with me."

They went to the elevator and down to the Avalanche. Mac called Don and he was still watching the beauty salon. "Stand by," Mac said.

"Yes, sir," Don replied.

They arrived at Victoria Cory's apartment and Mac knocked on the door. The babysitter opened the door again. "We have a warrant to search these premises," Mac said.

The babysitter stared at them as Mac gave the warrant to her. Mac pushed the door open and they went inside. "You might make this easier," Mac said. "Do you know if the Cory's have any weapons?"

"No," the babysitter replied. "I have not seen anything like that here."

Mac, Jo and Danny split up and went to different parts of the apartment and began searching. However, after a long search, they did not find anything. One of the children came into the kitchen where Mac was. "What you doing?" she asked.

Mac looked at the little blond girl who had big blue eyes. "I'm looking for something," Mac said.

"Are you a cop?"

"Yeah." Mac showed her his badge.

The girl looked at the badge and then looked at Mac. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

"A gun."

"I saw a gun once."

"Where? Do you know where it is now?"

"No."

Mac did not want to ask the child too many questions. "You know you shouldn't touch a gun, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Mommy told me never to touch it."

"What room were you in when you saw it?"

"In my room."

Mac closed the cabinet door and looked at the little girl. "Did she leave the gun in there?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Did you see where she put it?"

"There's a secret compartment in my room and nobody knows where it is but me and Mommy. The baby is too little to know. It's our secret."

Mac squatted in front of the little girl who he thought could not be more than four. "Can I know your secret?" he asked.

"I would have to ask Mommy."

"Well, you and I could have a secret and then no one would know that."

The little girl shook her head. "I'm not supposed to have secrets with anybody but Mommy," she said.

"But I'm a policeman."

"Mommy said it didn't matter who it was."

Mac nodded. "Okay." He led the little girl into the living room where Jo was talking to the babysitter. "Jo, this is…" Mac realized he did not know the child's name. He looked at the little girl.

"My name is Marci," she said.

"Marci." Mac looked at Jo. "She has a secret."

"She does?" Jo asked looking surprised. "I'll bet it's a good one."

"It is," Mac said. "But she just won't let me know it."

Jo smiled. "Will you tell me?" she asked.

"She says she can't have any secrets with anyone but her mommy."

"I'm a mommy too. I'll bet it would be okay if you told me."

"But you're a stranger."

"You're right."

Jo looked at Mac and shrugged slightly. They went into the child's room. "She said there's a secret compartment here somewhere," Mac said. "That's the secret."

"It could be anything, Mac," Jo said. "Her mother most likely called it a 'compartment'. A child that small wouldn't come up with that word on her own."

They looked around the room. There was a crib for the baby and a toddler bed for Marci. There was a toy box, a dresser, a changing table, a closet and of course, toys scattered here and there. Mac shined his light on the toy box which was one of those with three sections. "Is that toy box flush with the floor or is it raised?" he asked.

Jo looked at it a moment. "One way to find out," she said.

They went over to the toy box and Mac lifted one end up so that Jo could look under it. She shined the flashlight under the box but did not see anything lying in the floor. "Raise it up a little further," she said.

Mac lifted the toy box up further until Jo could shine the light up into the small compartments under the toy box. She sighed. "Nothing," she said disappointed.

Mac let the toy box down. "I thought sure that is where it would be," Jo said.

"Just because it isn't there now doesn't mean it wasn't before," Mac replied.

"Check for GSR?"

"We need to take these toys out and turn this thing over so we can inspect it better."

They removed the toys from the toy box and then turned the box over on its top. They searched the compartments under the toy box looking for any scratch marks or anything but there were none. Mac tested for GSR but did not find any. He blew out a breath. "Either the weapon wasn't here, this is the wrong compartment or she had that gun in a bag," he said.

"Probably had it in a bag," Jo said. "I would think this would be where she would keep it in this room if she was going to keep it here because Marci wouldn't be able to turn this over. She would know that she couldn't get to the gun."

Mac nodded. "I agree but if it was there, there is no trace of it."

Jo looked at the toy box. "Maybe we can look at the fingerprints on it and see if it looks like she turned this box over," she said.

Mac scowled. "You mean the positioning of the prints?"

"Yes. If she turned this box over, her prints would be in places that wouldn't be normal, right?"

"It's worth a try."

Mac dusted the whole box and they looked at the positioning of the prints. "Well, there are definitely prints there that could be where she turned the box over but that doesn't prove anything," he said. "There could be a hundred reasons why she would move this box."

"Right," Jo said. "So what do we do now?"

"We go and inspect Linda Nealsen's apartment. Maybe she has the weapon now or they got rid of it."

"Hopefully they didn't dispose of it somewhere that it will never be found."

"Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Mac, Jo and Danny went on to Linda Nealsen's apartment. It was starting to get dark now. The landlord let them into the apartment. They searched the whole apartment but did not find the weapon there either. They went back out to the Avalanche. Mac sat there a moment. He did not know what to do next. "We know they did it but we can't prove it," he said.

"They can't get away with this murder," Jo said.

"They won't. They had to make a mistake somewhere."

Just then, Mac's phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, Linda and Victoria left the shop together," Don said. "I followed them to a bar called the Stirred and Shaken. Have you ever heard of that?"

"I can't say I have."

"I tell you, these people can come up with some weird names for stuff."

"Don, just tell me what is going on."

"Nothing. They went inside and they haven't come out yet." Don sat up straighter. "Hold on, here they come." He watched as Victoria, Linda and a man got into an SUV. "They're getting into an SUV with some guy."

"Watch them and see where they go," Mac said. "I'm going to try and get a warrant to arrest and question them. If we catch them red-handed, we'll have our evidence."

"I'm on it."

Mac put his phone away and got a warrant application to fill out. "I have to get this fast," he said. "There's no telling what they might be doing."

"Getting rid of the murder weapon?" Jo asked. "Maybe they had other help besides just each other."

"Some guy is with them. He may have helped them."

"How do we know they didn't take any of the money from the safe?"

Mac considered that. "You take Lindsey and go to the shop and get Butch to find out if there is any money missing," he said.

"We're on our way."

Mac finished his warrant application and headed out to find a judge. He had to do this fast. He knew a judge who would give him the warrant because he knew Mac would not be asking for a warrant that was not necessary.

"Come on, Danny," Mac said as he walked by the lab.

Danny fell in behind Mac. "Where we going?" he asked.

"We have to get a warrant and go wherever Victoria and her accomplices are and see if we can catch them disposing of the murder weapon. Don is following them right now."

They went to Judge Randy Gray's office. Mac explained the warrant to him as well as gave him his report and request. Judge Gray looked at Mac. "You really think they did it?" he asked. "What proof do you have?"

Mac sighed. "We don't have any proof. That's why I want the warrant to bring them in for questioning. If we catch them disposing of the weapon we'll have them."

"You think that's what they're doing?"

"They could be."

The judge considered that a moment. "Alright," he said. "But this is only for arrest for questioning."

Mac and Danny got the warrant and went out to the Avalanche. Mac called Don. "We have the warrant," Mac said.

"Mac, I'm still following these characters. I think they're heading out of town or they're heading out to the darkest part of Brooklyn."

"We're on our way."

Mac headed that way and by the time they arrived, Don was sitting and waiting in the darkness. "What took you so long?" Don asked.

"Well, we had to find the place," Mac said. "Where are they?"

"They're in that old abandoned apartment building there."

Mac scowled. "What are they doing in there?"

"I don't know."

"We're about to find out. They're trespassing anyway."

Mac, Don and Danny put on their bulletproof vests and headed toward the apartment building quietly. They found a door that was open and went in. The place was definitely abandoned and showed it with layers of dust on the fallen boards and old furniture that were inside. "We'll split up," Mac whispered. "I'll take this area down here."

"I'll take the second floor," Don said.

"I'll take the third," Danny added.

Mac headed down the first hall which was dark since there was no electricity to this building anymore. Suddenly, he remembered the day he was shot. He whirled around and looked behind him. He stood with his back against the wall as he remembered…a girl came running in. He had thought she was just someone who came into the pharmacy. He had not remembered that before. He remembered turning around and seeing her. She was young, very young. He did not suspect her at all and then he turned around to look for other suspects.

Mac realized sweat had popped out all over him although he was cold. He had to get himself together. He could not just stand here. He could not believe this was coming to him now but he realized that this was the first search he had done since he was shot. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and stood up. "Suck it up, Marine," he said. He could not let this affect him this way.

Mac looked behind him again and then proceeded slowly down the hall glancing over his shoulder. He realized his hand was shaking. He stopped again and leaned against the wall. He had not even thought about this when he decided that they should split up. He proceeded on down the hall when he felt like he could. Then he heard something down the next hall. He aimed his weapon down that hall. He did not have his light on because he did not want to make himself a target. Small amounts of light were streaming in through the windows from the street lights outside. He moved slowly down the hall being careful to be a silent as he could, and trying to keep his breathing quiet. He was panting slightly from the anxiety attack he had just lived through. He looked behind him again and then went on toward the sounds he was hearing.

Mac suddenly stepped on a piece of wood that snapped. He stopped in his tracks and listened. He did not hear anything. He knew he could have been hearing rats scurrying around in this place. He came to the first door on the hall and tried the knob. When the mechanism released the door, the door almost fell off the hinge. So much for surprise! Mac thought he might as well forget about trying to be quiet. This place was practically rotten.

Mac started moving faster down the hall. He could not stand this tension anymore. He wanted out of this place. He stopped again and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He could not do his job if he kept having these attacks of fear. He stopped again as he remembered hitting the floor. How could he remember this now? He could not remember it before. He thought déjà vu set in at the worst times. He saw her walking toward him and wondered if she would shoot him again. She just stepped over him…

Suddenly, someone was beside him. Mac started to raise up his weapon but someone grabbed his arms and shoved him into the wall. Then something hard hit him on the head and he felt himself hit the floor. He remembered hitting the floor after he was shot. He had hit that floor so hard and his body would not move. He had tried to move his hand but he could not. He remembered thinking that he had to stop that girl. Then someone turned him over but he was addled.

"Let's get him out of here," Victoria Cory whispered.

"He's a cop!" Linda whispered. "You can't kill him!"

"Who said anything about killing him?"

The man who was with them got Mac up onto his shoulder and they got out of the building and out to their SUV with Mac. Mac was starting to come around as they were cuffing his hands behind him. "Hey," he said. "What are you doing?" He looked into the face of Victoria Cory and she had a gun in her hand. "I knew you did it."

"Shut up!" she said.

The man, whom Mac had not seen before, tied his feet and gagged him and then they closed the back of the SUV. Mac wondered where they were taking him. He knew how he got into this situation. He had lost himself at the wrong time but he had not been able to stop it. He was in trouble now.

Don and Danny did not find anything on their floors, of course. They met back where they had all separated. "Nothing," Don said.

"Me neither," Danny replied. "I wonder where Mac is."

"Let's go this way." Don pointed down the hallway where Mac had gone. "I don't think there's anyone in this place."

They moved down the hall and of course, discovered that Mac was not there. "Did he go outside?" Danny wondered out loud.

Don had his phone in his hand and called Mac's phone and they suddenly heard it ringing. They whirled around as they heard it. They moved toward the sound. "Mac!" Don called.

They soon came to where the sound of the phone was coming from. They found Mac's cell phone under an old board. Don and Danny stared at it a moment and then looked at each other. "Something's wrong!" Danny said.

Don grabbed his radio and called in the fact that a police officer was missing. "How did this happen?" Danny asked as he and Don were moving out the door in the back of the building.

"How did they get out of here without us hearing?" Don asked.

They realized that Mac was gone and so were the people they had been looking for. "They got Mac!" Danny declared. He looked at Don. "How did they get him like that?"

"How should I know?" Don asked.

They felt like they had failed Mac now. "What are they planning to do is what I want to know," Don said.

Mac was lying in the back of the SUV wondering where they were taking him. He could not get loose from his bonds because he was cuffed. They had taken his cell phone so he could not use that to help himself. He closed his eyes as he remembered how he got in this situation. He had remembered the rest of the story then. He remembered lying their feeling like he was not attached to his body, but he did not remember the paramedics or anyone else arriving. He pulled at the cuffs. He was starting to feel claustrophobic. He took a deep breath, which he had to take through his nose. He should not have split up. He should have stayed with Don and Danny. Now, he was in trouble.

Mac thought it was an hour before the SUV stopped. He listened to see what they were about to do. Would they kill him? His heart pounded with that thought. He did not want to be shot out here wherever they were. He heard someone coming around the SUV. "I don't like this!" the man said.

"You're involved now!" Victoria said. "Now get him out of there!"

Mac just lay there as the back of the SUV was raised up. He still did not know what the man's name was. He shined a light in his face. "Come on," the man said. He got Mac by the arm and pulled him out of the SUV.

Mac had trouble keeping his balance with his feet tied. He looked at them with scorn. Victoria jerked the gag down. "You're too smart for your own good," she said.

Mac glared at her. "You're the one who murdered somebody," he said.

"Take the cuffs off."

Mac was nervous now. He wondered what they intended to do. "If I do that, he's going to fight," the man said.

"Then fight back."

Mac looked at the man. "Why don't you get out of this now?" he asked.

The man looked at him. "How do you propose that I do that?" he asked.

Victoria moved closer to Mac with the gun. "You try anything and I will shoot you," she said.

Mac knew she meant it. He rubbed his wrists as the cuffs were removed. Then his feet were untied. He thought about running but he did not want to be shot in the back. He swallowed down that panic that wanted to rise up. "Just leave him here," Linda said. "It will take him a long time to get out of here or find anyone who to help him."

"We're going to leave him out here," Victoria said. "But I want him to suffer a little. He cost me my family now and I want him to suffer."

"I didn't cost you anything!" Mac declared. "You did that to yourself when you decided to take a human life!"

"Take his bulletproof vest off."

The man did as he was told. Mac knew that guy must be involved with a gym or something because he was very muscular. Mac stood there wondering what they intended to do to him. "Beat him up," Victoria demanded.

Mac wondered what hold she had over this man. He seemed to think he had to do everything she told him. Mac looked at him wondering what he would do. He took Mac over to the wall of the building they were in which looked like an old warehouse of some kind.

"Well, go ahead!" Victoria demanded. "Having him lost will get their minds on finding him rather than finding us!"

The man looked at Mac. Mac bent his knees slightly. "You think I'm just going to stand here and let you beat me up?" he asked.

"You think you can beat me?" the man asked.

"I'm sure going to try if you start something."

The man stared at him a moment and did not see any fear in Mac's eyes. He moved toward Mac and started to grab his arm, but Mac punched him in the nose moving so fast, the man was not expecting it. He shook his head and looked at the blood on his hand. He glared at Mac. "You busted my nose," he said.

Mac glared at him. "I'll do more than that."

The man moved toward him again and Mac started to punch him again, but he grabbed Mac's fist. Mac was shocked at his strength as he held his punch back. Suddenly, he punched Mac in the stomach. Mac cried out as he bent double as pain exploded in his abdomen. He had had trouble with his stomach and digestion since he was shot.

Linda gasped. "What did you do to him?" she asked.

"I just hit him," the man said.

Mac thought he would not get his breath back. The man jerked him up. "Don't hit me again!" Mac said as he held his stomach. He felt embarrassed but he could not help it. He hoped that punch had not ruptured something.

"Let's just leave him here," the man said.

"We'll take him where I say we're taking him," Victoria said. "Beat him up and then let's get him out of here."

"I'm not watching this," Linda declared.

Victoria was disgusted with them both. "Are you going to do it or am I?" she asked.

"Go ahead," the man said. "I don't have anything against this guy, although I'm in trouble now for helping you!"

"You owe me! Why can't you just think of him like you're in a boxing ring?"

"Because I'm not! And he's a cop!"

Victoria turned the gun toward him. "Maybe I should just get rid of you too!"

The man held up his hands. "Alright," he said. "I wish I had never gotten involved in this."

"Well, you are involved now, so finish your job."

Mac swallowed hard. "You don't have to listen to her!" he said. "She doesn't care what happens to you."

"But I'm involved now," the man said.

"So far, you haven't committed murder."

"And I won't."

"But you'll be an accessory if she commits murder again."

"Shut up!" Victoria yelled and hit Mac with the gun.

Mac tasted blood in his mouth. Then he endured an onslaught until he thought he would pass out and the man was helping her. He had seen the day when he could take on two or three people at a time but that day was not today. After that punch in the stomach he felt like he could not move not to mention the anguish he had been going through before that.

"Get him back in there," Victoria said.

"Aren't we just going to leave him here?" the man asked.

"Brian, if you don't stop arguing with me, you're going to be a victim. I have the gun, remember?"

Brian grabbed Mac and got him back into the SUV. Mac wondered how long this pain would last. They left that warehouse and were on the road again. Mac stared at the floor of the SUV. He did not know how he would get out of this situation. He grimaced at the pain in his stomach. That punch had hurt so bad, he had thought he would die right there.

Soon they came to a stop again and Mac waited to see what would happen this time. He thought he smelled pine and cedar. Victoria and Brian came to the back of the SUV and opened the door. They pulled Mac out and he realized he was standing on the edge of a cliff. He looked at Brian. "Don't shove me down there," he said. "I can't follow you."

Brian looked at Victoria. "Can't we just leave him here?" he asked. "He's no threat way out here."

Victoria was mad. She shoved Mac and he went over the edge of the cliff…


	10. Chapter 10

Mac thought he would never stop rolling down that hill. It was a little rocky too and it hurt as he went down. Then he slid part of the way down and he started to wonder what he was sliding into. He could smell pin and cedar very strongly though. He thought he must be at a chipping mill or lumber mill. It was so dark, he could not tell. He could not find a handhold on anything. The ground he was sliding down seemed to be smooth and even a little muddy. He finally started to slide slower and then his feet hit water. Mac gasped but he was not sliding anymore. He stuck his hand into the water. He thought he must be in a gravel pit, but he was not sure. He looked around him and could see the outlines of what looked like hills in the dim light of the stars and moon. He knew he could not get back up the way he had come down. He lay down for a moment to rest. He had gotten his own self into this mess letting his fears get the best of him. But that pain had certainly gotten the best of him. Not only had it hurt, but it scared him.

Mac jerked as he woke up from sleep. He realized he had fallen asleep and he also realized it was raining. He was sore as he started to try to get up. He could feel where they had hit him and his jaw was sore where Victoria had hit him with that gun. He still could not see much around him. He looked up at the sky which was covered with clouds now. He could hardly believe it had been mostly clear earlier. He got to his feet and grimaced as he rubbed his stomach. It still ached but he thought it would be okay. He was not having any fever or anything so he thought maybe it was okay now.

Mac felt his feet slide slightly as he started to walk. The ground was muddy and he did not know what good it would do for him to walk around this water anyway. He thought it must be a gravel pit and they had dug down until they found a spring. He figured they just quit when they found a spring and then moved over to another area. However, he still did not understand why he smelled pine and cedar. He thought there must be a wood chipping mill around here. Wood chipping and making mulch went along with water.

Mac walked around the water hole and found that he was in what seemed like a big, round bowl. He knew how they dug these pits. They went around and around until they came down to a spring and it wound up being a bowl shape. He could see what looked like hills up around the top of the "bowl". He thought that must be the mountains of gravel and sand that they had dug out of this pit.

Mac spent the next hour trying to climb out of the gravel pit. He had only been able to keep himself up only a few feet. He was muddy and wet and freezing. He thought the temperature was dropping out there and he could see his breath. He was starting to shiver and he was tired from trying to climb up the hill and just sliding back down. He lay back against the hill and stood there while the rain poured down on him and he got colder by the minute and he could feel that the mud was getting more slippery as the rain poured on it too. He wondered how deep the water got in the pit when it rained a lot. "Help me!" Mac yelled as loudly as he could but he did not think there was anyone around to hear him and he did not think they could hear him over the rain.

Mac looked around him again but he did not see any way to get out of this pit. He did not think he could get out if it was dry because the sides were smooth. "Help me!" he yelled again.

"I want to know how they got Mac out of that building right under your noses!" Chief Sinclair said to Danny and Don.

"We were upstairs searching," Don said. "We didn't hear anything."

"We don't know what happened, Chief," Danny said.

Chief Sinclair folded his arms and paced back and forth in front of Don and Danny. "Do you know who all was involved in this?" he asked.

"I saw Victoria Cory, Linda Nealsen and some man go into the apartment building," Don said. "There were three of them."

"Sir, this is not their fault," Jo declared. "They would never let something like this happen to Mac."

"I never said that, Danville," Chief Sinclair said. He looked at them all. "I didn't think Mac was ready for an assignment like that yet. Now, look what's happened. He should have never been there alone. He's come through a horrible experience and he needed to prove himself before he decided to go off alone."

"Sir, it was Mac's idea," Don said.

"I don't care."

"They couldn't go against his direct orders," Jo said. "You can't blame this on them. Mac would never blame this on them."

Sinclair knew what Mac would say if he were standing there now. He would be angry that he even insinuated that this was somehow Don and Danny's fault. "Alright," he said. "But now we have to waste time looking for Mac rather than looking for those three murderers."

"Chances are they have him with them," Jo declared. "We should be looking for them instead of standing here blaming people for something that is no one's fault."

Sinclair pointed at Jo. "You see to it, Danville," he said. "I don't want them to get away with that murder or whatever they may have done to Mac."

Sinclair left and Jo looked at Don and Danny. "Thanks for taking up for us," Don said.

"Don't thank me," Jo replied. "I agree that you should never have let Mac go off alone, but I know Mac would not blame this on you and that's why I took up for you. I did that for him."

Danny did not think that made him feel better. "So what do we do next?" he asked.

"We have APB's out already," Don said. "My fear is that they're already outside the city."

"Where would they go?" Jo wondered. "Who was the man who was with them?"

"We got fingerprints there," Danny said. "We can run those and see if we come up with anything."

They ran the fingerprints and found Victoria Cory's prints, along with Linda Nealsen, and a man named Brian Andrews. "That must be the guy I saw with them," Don said.

"It must be," Jo agreed. "Why else would his fingerprints be in an old abandoned apartment building?"

"I guess we need to find out something about Brian Andrews."

Adam put Brian Andrews name into the computer to see what he could find about him. "They took the money tonight when they left the beauty salon," Jo said. "Butch wasn't sure how much was in there. They're trying to get out of the city so they can vanish."

"She's just going to leave her children?" Danny asked and folded his arms. "There's not enough money in the world that could make me do that."

"I don't think it's the money. She doesn't want to go to prison."

"And according to her husband, he loved her. Why would she give that up?"

"She obviously was not thinking when she got into this. She let her anger and embarrassment get the best of her."

Adam pulled up a file on Brian Andrews. "He works at a gym," he said. "Wow, all these people work at beauty related places."

"Or health places," Jo said. "That doesn't tell us anything about where they are now."

"All we can hope is that someone will see them," Danny said.

They all thought of Mac out there with those murderers. Jo's mouth dropped open. "We haven't even thought of Christine," she said.

"You think we ought to tell her right now?" Danny asked.

Jo was surprised. "Wouldn't you want Lindsey to know?"

"Of course, but…"

"Mac loves Christine."

"I'll go and tell her," Don said.

Just then, they saw Christine coming down the hall of the lab. "She's here," Jo said.

Jo headed out of the computer lab and went to Christine who was looking into Mac's office. She looked at Jo. "Where's Mac?" she asked. "Is he out on the case?"

"You might say that," Jo said. "I have to tell you something."

Christine frowned. "He's not in trouble, is he?"

"I'm afraid he is."

"What happened?"

Jo explained to Christine what was going on. "You don't even have a clue where he is?" Christine asked.

"Not yet," Jo replied.

Christine could not believe it. She looked toward the elevator. "Just tell me when you know something," she said and headed for the elevator.

Jo watched her go. She felt terrible. She had talked bad to Mac and had been jealous of their relationship. If Mac ever got back, she was going to tell him everything.

Mac woke up when his feet slipped on the mud. He realized he had been asleep again. He could not keep doing that or he would wind up dead. It was still raining and he could not climb out of this pit. Water was even running down the hill and washing mud over him. "Help me!" he called again, but he knew no one could hear him. He was so cold he thought he might have hypothermia. He looked up the hill but he could not even make out the top in the darkness and the rain hit him in the face when he looked up. He decided to walk around the bowl further. Maybe he would find a place somewhere that was not so smooth and he could climb out.

As Mac started to walk around the bowl again, the mud was getting more slippery as he went. He slipped and fell face first into the mud on the hill as he was facing the hill. He shook his head and got over to the water and washed the mud off his face. He looked across the water but he could not tell how wide it was in the dark. He started to walk again trying to be more careful in the slippery mud. He hated mud. He remembered when he was in training, he had been in mud up to his knees and had fallen face down in mud with no way to wash it off that time. He had been proud to serve his country, but he did not enjoy the mud. He thought it rained every day when he was in training. He thought there must have been trails that were less muddy.

Mac trudged on through the mud slipping some of the time. He thought he would really look like he had been in a mud bath when he got out of this…if he got out. He thought if anyone saw him down here, they would think he was part of the mud. He was sure his clothes and everything else were the color of it by now. And that mud was cold. It seemed to feel colder than the rain that was falling. Autumn was definitely on its way. Winter was on its way! Mac was trying to keep moving. It made him feel a little warmer when he was moving but not much. His teeth were chattering a little.

Mac walked until he was exhausted trying to keep from sliding in the mud. He realized he could not get out of this pit without help and he knew these people did not work when it was raining. He sat down beside the water and shivered as he folded his arms. He thought of Christine. Did she know he was missing? He thought of how warm and comfortable it had been on her sofa. He wished he was there now. He remembered that he had bought her that pendant. Maybe someone would find it and give it to her if he died here. He thought of how he got here. He had remembered some more of what happened in the pharmacy the day he was shot. He remembered being unable to move and feeling cold. He shivered with that thought. He did not want to die but he knew he would be here until morning at least. He would be lucky if anyone showed up then or even heard him call for help…


	11. Chapter 11

When the first light of day came, Mac was leaning back against the wall of mud with rain still pouring down on him. He thought he was covered in mud and he felt like he was frozen solid, but he knew when dawn came. He looked up at the sky without moving his head. He watched as his prison became clear. He knew now that he could not climb out of this hole. It was almost straight up on the sides but it was like a big bowl and with the rain still falling, his feet were almost in it now. He thought if he did not get out soon, he would drown. "Help me!" he yelled, but his voice was hoarse and it was very hard to yell now.

Mac sat there feeling sick and freezing. He thought this would eventually be his fate. He would be killed by some maniac who did not want to go to prison and blamed him for their trouble. He thought of Christine. He had to survive for her. He started to move but his stomach ached. He could not get out of this bowl. He had tried half the night but he could not give up.

Mac forced himself to move even though he started shivering. He looked up the hill. He started looking for a place to grip but there was nothing and mud just cascaded down. He looked around the rest of the bowl but there was no place that looked any different than the one he was at now. His only hope to get out of here was if someone found him. He sat back down and stared at the water which looked awfully clear except for the mud that was falling into it some of the time. He looked at himself. He was covered with mud. He thought if mud could help someone's skin, he should be soft and cuddly by the time he got out of this.

Danny and the others were still searching for Victoria and her two accomplices. They had gotten some leads and had found the SUV abandoned. They took it back to the lab and examined it and of course found prints in it from the same people who were in the old apartment building. "This is not getting us anywhere," Danny said. "We know who was in the car!"

"But the blood in the back could have been Mac's," Jo said. "I just wish those DNA tests could go faster."

Danny was still running fingerprints. "We have fingerprints from Victoria Cory, Linda Nealsen and Brian Andrews. Then we have…" He looked at Jo. "Mac's prints were in the back. They must have kept him in the back of the SUV."

"And he was cuffed and tied."

"Right. He couldn't have gotten away from them. They must have subdued him somehow."

"That means he could be injured," Jo said and paced back and forth. "We just have to find them."

"Why would they take him with them? And why would they keep him with them?"

"Barter maybe."

"Barter for what?"

"Who knows? Maybe they want to trade him for some sort of drugs or money."

Danny had not thought of anything like that. He could not imagine how many criminals out there would like to get hold of Mac and kill him. "We're helpless until they find them."

Mac was sitting and staring up at the sky. He realized it had stopped raining and the sky looked a little lighter. He was totally soaked with water and mud. He felt like his hands and feet were clumps and he had stopped shivering but every time he moved, he shivered violently. He thought he should try to climb out again. He finally got up enough energy to get to his knees and get up to his feet again. He almost slipped down but he kept his footing. He tried to push some of the mud back out of his way because it seemed to be sliding down the hill in layers. He could not find the dry dirt under it. He felt for a place to get his fingers in or to get his toe or foot in. He tried to jam his fingers into the mud and he definitely jammed them. He grimaced at the pain but he realized his fingers were in the mud so he tried to get the toe of his shoe into it but when he tried to climb, the mud would not hold up his weight. He kept trying until he finally found a place that had a few ridges. He was so tired he thought he could not climb but he was determined. He kept struggling until he was able to climb up a few feet with only slight finger and toe holds. It was a long, hard struggle, but he actually managed to get up high enough to see the edge. The ridges were more pronounced at the top but they were still slight and there were a few rocks.

Mac strained to pull himself up higher. His muscles were trembling with effort and were still trying to shiver with the cold. He finally got high enough to get his hand up on the edge. He searched for a spot to hold on but he could not find anything. He got his other hand up there but the mud was thick up there and slippery. He strained to try to pull himself up but then his arms slipped. Mac gasped and grabbed for the edge as he felt himself falling backward. There was nothing to grab and his feet slipped when he lost his balance. "Help!" Mac yelled as he was falling. He hit the side of the bowl and tumbled back down to the bottom. He was sliding fast as he got down to the bottom of the hill and he realized he was about to tumble off in the water. His feet hit the slight level place at the bottom and Mac felt pain explode in his ankle but he did not have time to think about that as he was still traveling. He grabbed for some sort of handhold but he could not stop his descent and he went off into the water. The area where the water resided was also shaped like a bowl although there was a small area at the edge where he had sat all night. However, that area was very slippery right then and he was in the water. He knew he had sprained that ankle now so there was no more climbing. Now he was in the water and did not know how he would get out. He tried to get his knee up on the edge and strained until he got out of the water. He rolled over on his back and tried to get his breath back after all that exertion. He was stuck now unless someone found him. He grimaced at the pain in his ankle but he could not sit up anymore. He was exhausted and just when he thought it could not get worse, it started to rain again.

Mac groaned as he felt the rain hitting his face. "Help me," he said.

That evening, Don Flack had a lead as to where Victoria and her two partners were. They had been seen in Poughkeepsie, New York. "Jo, they're traveling," Don said over the phone. "They were seen in Poughkeepsie in a red Jeep Cherokee. I'm on my way there now to try and help find them."

"They could switch vehicles again, Don," Jo said. "They should monitor any reports of stolen vehicles or anything like that."

"I'm on it."

"How many did they say there were?"

"They only saw the three of them but it's not likely that they would let anyone see Mac."

"Thanks, Don."

Jo put her phone away and looked at Danny. "They were in Poughkeepsie," she said.

Danny stood up. "Are we going after them too?" he asked.

Jo wanted to go but she could not just run off. She had Ellie to look after. "Give me ten minutes," she said.

Danny grabbed a jacket because it was getting colder out there. He wanted to get going but he would have to wait for Jo. Soon, she came back. She had found someone to stay with Ellie until she got back. She grabbed her jacket and she and Danny headed out.

It seemed to take forever to get to Poughkeepsie but they finally arrived and found Don Flack at the police station where they were monitoring calls and everything that was coming in. They had not heard anymore about the three people they were looking for. "It's already starting to get dark out there again," Jo said. "They're going to get tired of dealing with him. They'll either kill him or they'll dump him somewhere if they haven't already."

"If Mac could, he would call," Don declared.

"The temperature is supposed to be down in the forties tonight. It's going to be cold."

"And it's raining," Danny said. "I hope he's not out there somewhere lost."

Jo sat down in a chair. She could not believe she had treated him the way she did. She could not help but think of that. She had hurt him even though he had acted like it was nothing. She just hoped she got to tell him how sorry she was.

Mac was sitting up against the mud wall and he was shivering again. It seemed to be getting colder again. It was getting dark again and he could not believe he had to spend another night out there. He had given up on yelling for help. He did not think anyone would hear him if he did yell. He was about twenty feet down. He was beginning to wonder if he would die down there all covered in mud and with a sprained ankle. He thought he might freeze to death. It was so cold and he was even wet. He was starting to want to take off his wet clothes. They clung to him and made him feel even colder. He hated feeling helpless but he was. He had no way out of here and could not even climb now. He should have been more careful.

By the next morning, Jo and the others had another lead on Victoria, Linda and Brian. They were at a hotel in Kingston, New York. The police officer who had located the car was watching to make sure they did not leave. Jo and the others arrived at the hotel and they were getting ready to go in when Don saw Brian Andrews come out of the hotel. "Hey, there he is," Don said as he saw that Brian had seen them. "Freeze! N.Y.P.D.!"

Brian did not freeze, he took off running and Don and Danny went after him. "Why don't they ever freeze?" Don asked.

"They think that's what ice does or something," Danny replied.

Brian ran around the side of the hotel and into the forest that was behind the hotel. Don and Danny went after him running through the Maple trees. Brian ran through those trees and then turned to the right as he came out of the forest behind another building. He tried to open the door of the building but it was locked. Don and Danny were coming up fast and Brian started running again.

"Stop!" Danny yelled. "N.Y.P.D.!"

Brian finally stopped running and threw his arms up. "Don't shoot me!" he said. "I don't have a weapon!"

Don grabbed him and pushed him against the wall of the building they were standing beside. "We're not in the habit of shooting people who give up," he informed him.

They searched the man and did not find anything on him. They cuffed him and started walking him back to the hotel. By the time they got back, Jo and the others were coming out of the hotel with Linda, but there was an ambulance there now. "Victoria wouldn't give up," Jo said.

Danny shook his head thinking about those little children who now had no mother. They took Brian and Linda over to the car. "Where is Detective Taylor!" Jo demanded. "If you two don't want to be charged with murder, you better start talking!"

"You're just accessories right now but if he dies now, you're going to be charged with murder!" Danny said.

Brian looked at Linda. "We left him at the gravel pit," Brian said. "I didn't want to do it but Victoria demanded. I was afraid she would kill him if we didn't go along with it. I didn't murder anyone. I didn't even have anything to do with this murder they committed."

"Then how did you get involved in this?" Don asked.

"Victoria and I were having an affair. I was just helping her."

"No, you were aiding and abedding a fugitive from justice," Danny said.

"If Mac Taylor is dead, you're going to be charged with murder," Jo said.

"I don't even want to go over all their charges right now," Don said. He shoved the two into the car.

"Let's get out there and find Mac.  
"There's only one gravel pit out there," Danny said. "Let's go."

They got on their way and Don called it in as they were going. "It will take more than an hour to get there," Jo said.

Mac was still sitting beside the mud wall. He thought he was frozen after that night. He had lost track of time but he knew the sun was up now. He thought he had gotten beyond hungry too and he could not feel the pain in his ankle anymore. He figured the cold had helped that at least. He realized his feet were in the water now. It had rained almost all night and mud had slid down the hill. He figured he would just become part of this landscape. Maybe one day someone would find his bones…then again, he would probably be frozen and mummified.

Just as Mac thought that, he thought he heard a siren. He thought if he had to hear things, why did it have to be a siren? That was not exactly the last sound he wanted to hear before he died. He could not remember how long he had been here. He thought he had been out here two nights though. He closed his eyes and then he heard someone yell, "Mac!"

Mac felt relaxed but he thought he heard someone yell his name. "Mac!" There it was again and it sounded like Don Flack. How could he find him down here in this bowl of water?

Don, Danny and Jo were up at the edge of the gravel pit. "Do you see him?" Don asked. "That guy better not have been lying."

They peered over the edge. "He could be covered in mud," Danny said. He went to the Avalanche and took out a rope and harness out. "I'm going down there."

"Mac!" Jo yelled.

Mac opened his eyes as he thought he heard Jo call his name. He knew they would help him if they could. He thought he was dreaming about them.

"If he is down there, he's not answering," Jo said.

Danny got the harness on and got the ropes in place. The rope was held by the Avalanche. He threw the rope over the edge of the gravel pit. "It's like a big bowl," Don remarked.

"He would never be able to climb out of there," Jo said.

Danny got over to the edge of the cliff and then jumped. He repelled down the hill and finally got down to the small space that he could stand on. He realized how slippery it was too. He looked around him but he did not spot Mac right away. "Mac!" he yelled. He took the ropes off the harness and started walking around the bowl. "Mac!"

Mac was not moving. He thought he was dreaming as he was hearing Danny call his name. Danny suddenly saw a spot of blue in the mud. "Mac!" He started moving faster which was not easy on the small ledge. As he got closer, he knew it was Mac. "I found him!"

Danny got over to Mac, who was sitting against the mud wall with his head hanging enough that his chin was on his chest. "Mac!" Danny knelt beside him and lifted Mac's chin. He was relieved to see Mac's eyes open slightly. "Mac, we're here to help you."

Mac looked at Danny and could not believe he was really seeing him. "Danny?"

"Yeah! It's me, Mac! We're gonna get you outta here."

"How did you find me?"

"They told us where you were."

"Help me."

"I will." Danny wiped some of the mud off Mac's face. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Mac considered that. "My ankle."

Danny moved Mac so that his feet were out of the water. "I can't feel my feet," Mac said.

Danny cradled Mac's head and shoulders. "You'll be alright," he said.

"I'm tired."

Danny looked up the hill. "He's talking!" he yelled.

"The ambulance is coming!" Don called. "Is he alright?"

"He's frozen! He has a hurt ankle!"

Jo was relieved that Mac was still alive. She wished she could get down there to him but they could not all go down there.

Mac stared up at the sky. "Looks like the sun is going to come out," he said slowly.

Danny looked up and realized the clouds were thinner. "Yeah, it probably will," he said and looked at Mac.

"I'm so cold."

Danny hugged him. He did not have anything that he could put around him. "They'll be here to get you soon," he said.

Mac shivered. "I don't want to die."

"Mac, you're not going to die. You'll be fine." Danny wished he could get some of the mud off of Mac, but it was wet, clingy mud that stuck."

Mac's eyes started to roll back. Danny shook him. "Hey, look up at the sky now," he said. "There's a hole in those clouds and you can see the blue sky."

Mac looked at Danny not comprehending what he said. "I'm cold," he said.

"They're coming, Mac, just stay awake."

Soon, the ambulance arrived. It was not an easy task to get Mac out of the bowl. One of the rescue team came down the hill and he and Danny strapped Mac into the stretcher that would be hoisted up the hill. "They're going to pull you up, Mac," Danny said.

Mac did not say anything. He was wrapped in a blanket now and he just stared at the sky. He knew he was lying down now and that he was not feeling the cold wind anymore. They pulled him up the hill and got him into the ambulance. "Mac, you're going to be fine," Jo said as she leaned over him.

Mac was starting to shiver now. His body was attempting to warm itself now that he was in a warmer place. Jo looked at his mud-covered hair and face. "Christine will be waiting for you," she said.

Mac could not talk now but he knew he had been rescued…


	12. Chapter 12

Mac woke up feeling warm. He opened his eyes and realized he was not in that bowl anymore. He still felt very sleepy, but he felt a warm hand on his face. He looked up into Christine's eyes. "Hi," she said. "You're awake."

Mac thought he could not stay awake. "I'm sorry I missed our date," he said.

Christine smiled at his wit in this situation. "Don't worry. We'll make it up."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Christine watched him fall back to sleep. She was so relieved to see him wake up even if he did fall asleep again. She stroked his hair and touched his face. She definitely loved him and she would be glad when he got out of the hospital. She figured he would be out the next day. The only injury he had was a sprained ankle, although he had some bruises.

When Mac woke up again he was feeling more alert. He rolled over on his back although that made him shiver. He pulled the covers up to his neck. Then he remembered that he had been covered in mud. He thought someone must have washed him after he got here. He did not care. At least he did not have to wash it off. He felt pain in his ankle which he had almost forgotten about. It was his left ankle. He wondered how badly it was sprained. It was wrapped now but it still hurt and he could feel that it was swollen.

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Mac said.

The door opened and Jo walked in. "Hi," she said and showed him the bouquet of yellow lilies that she brought. She set them on the counter and walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Warmer," Mac said.

Jo touched his hand. "Mac, I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for the way I acted and the way I talked to you the other day," she said.

"Jo…"

"Don't act like it was nothing. I know what I was doing and it was out of jealousy and I don't even know why I felt jealous. I'm sorry. Christine is a wonderful person and she loves you and I hope that you two will be happy together."

"Apology accepted," Mac said.

"I couldn't believe I had talked to you like that."

"Don't worry about it. Christine and I have a relationship that is not going to break up over age, and we're probably some of the most solemn people you ever saw, but we have fun together and I don't ever want to lose that."

"I hope you don't. I want to see you happy."

"I am happy." Mac shivered again and pulled the blanket tighter. "I'm still cold."

"You should be warming up as warm as it is in this room."

"I am definitely warmer than I was out there in that bowl."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Mac thought back to when he was in the old apartment building. "It was stupid," he said.

Jo waited for Mac to go on. "Just tell me what happened."

"Don, Danny and I split up when we were searching the building. I started down that hall and…" Mac pulled the blanket around him more. "I remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"I remembered being in the pharmacy. It was the first time I remembered it. I thought somebody was behind me."

Jo could see Mac felt embarrassed about it. "Mac, everybody goes through things like this when they suffer trauma."

"I had to stop and get myself to calm down, Jo. I was having an anxiety attack."

"Oh, Mac. I was shot once. I couldn't tell you how many times after that I cringed when I was looking for somebody. You have to have time."

"I remembered being in the pharmacy and that girl ran in. I didn't suspect her being part of it. I thought she had just come into the pharmacy. That was so stupid."

"Mac, it's not stupid."

"Yes it is! I should have wondered why she would run into that pharmacy when she heard shots!"

Jo leaned over him. "Mac, that is over," she said. "You couldn't have known."

"I assumed that she was innocent because she was so young and I turned my back on her. I can't believe it, Jo. I turned my back on her and she shot me." Mac frowned. "I remember hitting that floor so hard and I couldn't move."

Jo listened to his story because she knew he needed to tell it. "I was so cold," Mac said. "I don't even remember when the paramedics or anyone arrived."

"You thought of all this in that hallway?"

Mac nodded. "I couldn't move and I had to force myself to go on. I didn't even see them coming. They jumped me and almost knocked me out and they took me out of there and we stopped somewhere so they could beat me up a little. He hit me in the stomach and I thought I would die right there."

Jo stroked his hair and just then, the door opened and Christine walked in. She wondered what Jo was doing touching Mac like that. Mac smiled. "Christine," he said.

Jo stood up as Christine came over to the bed. "He was just telling me what happened," Jo said. "I'll see you guys later."

"Thanks, Jo," Mac said.

Jo smiled and went out the door. Christine wondered what that was about but she was trying not to suspicion anything. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Warmer," Mac said with a smile. He could not help but say that.

"You look like you're feeling better."

"I think I know something that would really make me feel warmer than this blanket," Mac said.

"What's that?" Christine asked.

"A kiss."

Christine smiled and leaned over. "I think I can arrange that." She kissed him warmly. "How was that?"

"I'm getting warmer."

"I see you didn't lose your sense of humor."

Mac held her hand. "I thought of you while I was down there," he said.

"Where were you? They said you were in a gravel pit."

Mac nodded. "It was like a giant bowl and the sides were muddy and smooth and I couldn't climb out. I tried to once but I slid all the way back down and right into that cold water and sprained my ankle."

"Oh, Mac. I was so worried about you."

Mac thought of the pendant he had bought for her. He did not want to tell her about it. He wanted her to find out when he gave it to her. He touched her hair. "I want to spend more time with you," he said. "I'm gonna try to arrange my schedule so I can have at least two days off during the week and I can help you at the restaurant."

"I'll be your boss for two days?" Christine asked.

Mac smiled. "You wanta be my boss?"

"Oh, sure."

"We can spend more time together and get to know each other better."

"I would like that."

Mac looked at her. "I can't believe you told Jo my middle name."

"Well, she was filling out the hospital forms and she didn't know."

"You could have just told her it was an L."

Christine smiled. "It's too late now."

"I just hope she doesn't tell anyone else."

"What were you guys talking about a while ago?"

"I was telling her what happened," Mac said. "I have to tell everything."

Christine tried not to be jealous that he had not even told her yet, but then again, he had not had a chance. "What did happen?" she asked.

Mac was not sure he wanted to tell Christine everything. "They captured me in that hall. They got the jump on me and took me down there and shoved me off in that bowl. I couldn't get out."

"That must have been so horrible to be trapped like that."

"It was and it was cold. I guess I was a little hypothermic when they found me."

"I guess you were."

Mac pulled Christine close to him and hugged her. "I want to think about what we're going to do when I get out of here," he said.

Christine smiled. "I think we're going to go to the warmest restaurant in New York and we're going to dine by candlelight and dance the night away."

"I can't think of anything I want to do more."

Christine looked into Mac's eyes and then they shared a longer kiss. "I know I'm getting warmer now," Mac said.

Christine laughed. "Stop that," she said. "I don't want to laugh right now."

Mac put his arms around her and they shared another kiss, but then someone knocked on the door. Christine sat up. "Come in," she said.

A nurse came in to check Mac's vitals. He wondered why she had to come in right now when his heart rate was a little faster than normal. He took a deep breath and waited while she checked his blood pressure and his other vitals. When she was done, Mac asked, "Am I okay?"

"Oh, yes," the nurse replied. "You'll probably be out of here by morning."

"Morning? Why not today?"

"Well, you were hypothermic when you came in so you have to be observed."

"Oh."

"But, I think you're going to be fine."

The nurse left and then Christine came back over to the bed. She smiled at Mac. "I wonder if your heart was racing," she said.

Mac shook his head. "You know it was," he said.

"Do I make your heart race?"

Mac looked into her blue eyes. "You make it race, skip beats and flutter. Anything else?"

"You want to know what you do to me?"

"Sure," Mac said and stared at her with interest.

"I'm not telling you."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you some other time."

"Oh. Okay." Mac smiled as he caressed her hand. "Life is getting better all the time."


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry it took so long to get this last chapter. It is kinda short, but it is the end of this story. I have had a week off this week from college, and Monday, my last class starts and then I will have a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice/Forensic Science. :) I hope you all like this last chapter and I hope you will send reviews. **

Mac got out of the hospital the next morning. Christine came to take him home. She had brought him some clean clothes since his other clothes had been ruined in the mud. He was ready when she got there. Of course, he had to use crutches for a while, but the ambassador would take him out in a wheelchair.

Christine drove to Mac's apartment and they went in. "I hope this ankle will be better soon," Mac said. "I hate walking on crutches."

"Just be glad you have them," Christine said.

Mac stood a moment and thought about what he wanted to do before he moved. He thought of the pendant that he did not get to give Christine yet. "Let's go in the bedroom," he said. "I have something I want to give you."

Christine followed Mac into the bedroom and he got the gift box that was still sitting on his bed. "I bought this for you the other day and I was going to give it to you at our date," he said.

Christine looked surprised but she took the box and opened it. She smiled as she saw the pendant. She looked at Mac. "It's beautiful, Mac."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Help me put it on."

They went over to the mirror and Mac helped her put the pendant on. Christine looked at the necklace around her neck in the mirror. "I'll always cherish it," she said and turned around toward Mac.

"I'll always cherish you," Mac said. He kissed her.

Christine stared into Mac's eyes. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Mac thought he was thinking a thousand things at the moment. "So many things," he said. "One thing I'm thinking is that I don't ever want to lose you."

"You won't. I don't intend to go anywhere."

A mischievous look came into Mac's eyes. "So, I'm stuck with you, huh?" he asked.

"As long as you want to be stuck with me."

"How about the rest of our lives?"

"Just what I was thinking."

Mac thought Christine looked like she was expecting him to say something else. He swallowed hard as he wondered if he should ask her to marry him. They had been dating for six months. He wanted to marry her. He knew he loved her and he thought they would make each other happy and would complement each other. He did not have a ring yet though. "You think a man should have a ring in his hand if he is going to propose?" he asked.

Christine stared at him a moment. "I don't know if it matters if he just gifted the source of his affection with a beautiful necklace," she said.

"What if he can't get down on one knee?"

"I'm sure she would understand if he had a sprained ankle."

Mac smiled. "Christine Whitney, it would give me great pleasure if you would agree to be my wife," he said.

"Mac Taylor, I think that would make me very happy."

"Is that a yes?"

"Was that a question?"

Mac smiled. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will."

They kissed and then hugged each other. "It will be so wonderful to do this all the time," Christine said.

"Never have to part."

"Never lonely again just knowing that someone loves you."

"And even when you're alone, you're not alone."

"I've never known what that was like," Christine said.

"It's something you can't really explain. It's like feeling whole, and no matter whether you're together or not, you still feel that connection and when you're together, you're one unit."

"Oh, Mac, I love you."

"And I love you."


End file.
